Hunter's Peace
by CodeOne
Summary: With war between the Human Stars and Terra seemingly inevitable, Judy and Nick are sent as part of the peace effort while Hunter and Tavi try to do what they can back on Terra. Through it all, they seek to find the mysterious Prometheus, and learn who he is, what he wants- And how to stop him. Hunter's Rules 'verse III.
1. Prologue

Prologue

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Winston Churchill

 _Terra, Thousands of Years Ago_

"The prey draw near, my khan," said Lata, almost too quietly for the great tiger she addressed to hear.

Shere Khan, Chosen of the Hunters, Tracker of the Hidden Truths, Lord and Master of Creation, did not need to hear the words to know, however. The god-building- from before the time of the Light, from even before the God-War- was slowly filling. Predators of all kinds- even those who had sometimes preyed upon one another- filed in, with little more than a muttered growl signalling the ancient feuds which had long since been forgotten since the rise of the prey.

The prey.

There had been the Long Night. Then, the Light had come, giving mammals the gift of the Gods. The Gods had been angered at the mammals, who had barely come to understand their new consciousness when they were punished in the War. When the Gods came, bringing fire and lightning down from the heavens, turning forests and fields into deadlands where to linger meant a strange and terrifying death. They had ranged at will, the legends said, and in their great hunts all became prey.

Then came the Time of Peace. Peace for the hunters, at least- they had ranged farther and wider than ever before, swooping down when hungry on the strange places of the prey, who scratched and dug at the dirt, turning the chaos of the grass into orderly rows of crops. The Great Khan could close his eyes and feel, with his ancestor's eyes, those times. To run free with the wind, brushing aside the pitiful spears of the prey, flashing claws and teeth. To fear nothing, save perhaps one of the blood feuds from other Hunters. The prey were beneath notice- only existing to sate the hunger of the Hunters.

And then. Those strange dwellings had started as earth, but then became wood. Then stone. The spears had become bows, then- within living memory- guns. The prey multiplied, which had been a blessing, but now became a curse as more and more of them ranged the earth. The land was girdled with steel roads, upon which the great iron monsters the prey called trains rode.

His tribe had adapted. They had to, or perish. They put aside their quarrels with the other Hunter tribes. The Wolf, the Tiger, the Lion, even the lowly Fox had come together. Against such an army- the Confederation of the Hunters- nothing could stand.

Khan looked around him, noting the expressions of the various Hunters. Wolf sat with Fox, Bear with Panther. Their faces showed shame, wounded pride, and, most of all, fear.

The Hunters were scattered. The Battle of the Wounded Land, near the great crater which legend said had once been created by the Gods in their war against mammals, had gone crushingly against them. The Hunters had stolen guns, even cannon that they had taken in their first lightning strike against the prey outposts. But then-

Serried ranks of herd animals, clustered together, lowering great pikes in unison. Elephants dragging massive cannons into position, blasting hot metal fragments that struck like arrows. The cavalry, horses and zebras wielding lances strapped to their sides, striking and falling back.

The host that the Great Khan had led had filled the land from horizon to horizon.

Those that remained fit into one building.

"My Khan," said Lata again, more loudly. She looked at her father, trying to see if he was listening. "The prey-"

"I know, Lata," said the khan quietly. "And so do they."

The last of the leaders of the Hunter Tribes filed into the room. They watched him impassively. He knew the usual price for a leader who failed to succeed in the Hunt. It was a measure of their confusion and fear that they still looked to him.

Finally, a bear stepped forward. "Great Khan," said the bear. "What do we- what is your-"

"My command?" Shere Khan regarded him wearily. "What is there to command? The prey draw near. They number more than the grass they eat. They are armed with guns, the long spears they call pikes, and more Hunters than I knew existed have perished on this day." His voice rose. "You ask what I command?"

There was a long silence.

Redclaw, of the Cougar clan, leapt forward. "If the khan will not command," he snarled, "then perhaps it is time to choose another."

"You, Redclaw?" said a voice.

"Yes!" shouted the cougar, rounding on the assembled leaders. "If no one else has the courage." He paced, his tail lashing furiously, meeting their eyes. "We are Hunters. They are Prey. It is our right-"

"Our right to what?" shouted Ursus, leader of the Bear Tribe. "Our right to die?"

"If that is the will of the Gods," shot back Redclaw. "They have risen us up, to rule over the Prey, and if we are too weak to rule in their stead, then I will go willingly to my death, claws and teeth striking for the jugular."

There were a few growls of agreement, but more were shaking their heads. "No," said a lion. "We have met them, tooth and claw, and were bested. We must seek another way."

"What way?" asked Redclaw. He raised a paw and extended his claws, which glittered in the torchlight of the meeting room. "How many of the prey has fallen under these claws? How many lives have I taken? What could they possibly offer us?"

The door flew open, crashing into the wall. Two wolves, wielding prey-made rifles, stepped inside as the khan leapt to his feet. The rest of the tribal leaders turned as well, most instinctively baring teeth or claws as they looked at the doorway.

"Forgive us the interruption, oh lords," said one wolf, bowing deeply. "There is a messenger."

"From whom? The coyotes?" demanded Redclaw, before anyone else could speak. "Have they come after all?"

The wolf shook his head. "No, my lord. From the prey."

Silence fell.

Shere Khan straightened and took his great spear which Lata handed to him. "Bring him forth."

"Only Hunters have the right of free passage," began Redclaw.

"And who has hunted the Hunters on this day, Redclaw?" asked Khan, his voice grim.

The cougar's eyes widened in outrage, but before he could speak the messenger came through the door.

Or hopped, rather.

The bunny held his head high, meeting the eyes of the tribal leaders. They growled in confusion. He was Prey. He was small, weak.

But the memories of the battlefield were still strong.

The bunny bowed. "Greetings, O great Hunters. I bring a message from the Prey Nations."

Redclaw's eyes narrowed, his claws unsheathing. "Spare us your mockery, prey. We may die, but we will surely bring you with us."

"It is not mockery," said the bunny calmly. He looked the cougar over. "You are not the great khan."

Shere Khan stepped forward, his cloak trailing his pawsteps as he moved. "I am," he said.

The bunny bowed again. "I am called Horace, great khan." He smiled slightly. "Pleased to meet you."

Despite himself, the tiger smiled slightly at the pedestrian greeting. "What is your message, Horace of the Prey?"

"He comes only to mock us in our defeat," growled Redclaw. "Let us end him first, as we shall end so many of their kind when we are at last made to meet the Gods."

"I bring an offer," said the rabbit, ignoring the cougar.

"What sort of an offer?" asked the khan, curious.

"An offer of peace."

The tribal leaders stared in shock.

"Peace?" shouted Redclaw, the first to recover himself. "What peace can there be between Hunters and Prey?"

"What peace can there be?" repeated the rabbit. He shrugged. "The usual sort, I suppose. You don't eat us, we don't get eaten."

"And what shall we eat?" called one of the wolves. "We cannot eat grass and vegetables!"

"There are fish," said the rabbit. "And you might be surprised how much nutrition you can get from some kinds of plants."

The bears nodded thoughtfully, but most of the Hunters- particularly the obligate carnivores- looked repulsed. "Fish?" muttered one.

The rabbit looked in his direction. "Fish," he repeated. "For surely it is better to eat fish and survive, than to eat nothing and die."

"There is no honor in what you say," said Redclaw, his eyes glittering. "It is the word of Prey."

Shere Khan raised his paw, silencing the cougar. He looked up around the room. "What say you?"

Most of the predators refused to meet his eyes, glancing away shamefully. That was as good as an answer to him- they preferred to eat fish and live, and see their cubs live, than to die under the guns of the Prey. But silence was not enough. His eyes sought out a pair that did not look away, but instead met his without fear and without shame. "Mother Wolf," he said quietly. "Would you speak?"

The wolf matriarch slowly stood, two of her grandsons rushing to assist her. She shook them off irritably, though her muzzle was rimed with grey, her eyes blurred with age. She looked around, and even Redclaw said nothing when her gaze fell upon him.

"I am old," she said, her voice so low that even the sharp ears of the Hunters had to strain to hear it. "I have seen many a moon. I have seen the Prey push us from one land to another. From the lands that my mother and my mother's mother have known, to the wounded lands here far in the west. My sons are dead. Many of my grandsons are dead. Their cubs cry for want of food, for want of warmth, for want of their sires and dams." She bowed her head. "Some speak of pride, of honor. But what honor is there in our cubs' cries? What pride is there in the death of my tribe?"

Redclaw raised a paw, then lowered it, his ears falling. He looked at his mate, who held a small cub in her claws.

"The tribes have come together in their fulness," continued the Wolf Mother. "They have died in their fulness. The Light came and gave us eyes to see, ears to hear. It turned us from the darkness and into a new life. Many things have come and gone since then. Many new things under the sun." She fell silent, looking to Shere Khan.

He nodded, slowly. "New things," he repeated. He looked at the bunny. "Such as a bunny, coming into a den of Hunters?"

"Such as a bunny, who brings word from the Prey to spare the Hunters," said Horace.

"It is weak," said Redclaw, his voice trembling with emotion. "See, how small it is."

"No," said the khan. He knelt down to meet the bunny's eyes. They met his own, without flinching. "It is strong. See how little it fears."

He stood and turned to face the room. "We have long sought peace through strength," he said. "Strength to triumph over our enemies, to keep the hunting grounds of our fathers and mothers."

"There is no strength in surrender," protested Redclaw, but his heart was not in it.

"Long have we sought peace in strength," repeated the khan. He looked at the cougar, who closed his eyes and bowed his head submissively. "Perhaps it is time to seek strength in peace."

He turned to the bunny. "Will we be servants, then, rabbit Horace- hewers of wood and drawers of water?"

The bunny shook his head. "No. For what would that lead to, save greater wars to come? No, it has been decided. We shall build a city, where predators and prey can learn to live together." He looked up at the great khan. "You will learn, and we shall teach." Before the khan could speak, he raised a paw to forestall him. "And you shall teach, and we shall learn."

"You think we can teach you?" asked the khan in surprise.

The bunny shrugged. "We always seek to learn new ways to live in peace," he said seriously. "And if there can be a Hunter's Peace, then, why, we should like to learn that, too."

"Hunter's peace," mused the khan. He looked over the tribal leaders, seeing as if for the first time their fear, their desperation. Their dismay at the world being turned upside down. It must have been much like when the Light first came.

The Light was a blessing, wrapped in a curse. Perhaps- just perhaps- this was something similar.

He turned back to the bunny. "You shall have my answer," he said. He raised his spear.

The rabbit stared back at him unflinchingly.

The spear came down.

There was a loud crack as Shere Khan, Chosen of the Hunters, Tracker of the Hidden Truths, Lord and Master of Creation broke his spear across his knee.

"My arms are weary," he said in the silence. "My heart is heavy. From this day forward I shall fight no more again forever."

He reached out a paw towards the bunny, who took it.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Horace and the khan stood outside in the moonlight. The predators, in silent lines, marched past the files of prey, tossing down their weapons into ever-growing piles.

"Will it be so simple?" murmured the khan.

"No," said Horace. "It never is."

The tiger smiled down at him. "You must be a great chief in your country," he said.

The rabbit chuckled. "I'm a farmer."

The khan blinked in surprise. "A farmer."

"A damned good farmer," added the bunny. He smiled up at the khan. "Surprised?"

"Where does a farmer learn such courage?" asked the khan. "You were unafraid. I have slain many." He said it without boasting, just a simple statement of fact.

Horace looked back at the disarming predators. "I have kits."

"Kits?"

"Children." He smiled. "They give you courage you never knew you had. And I want them to grow up in a world where farmers don't have to carry guns."

The khan looked at Lata, his daughter, who was staring in wonder at the scene before them. She caught his glance and smiled tremulously. He thought about a world where she would never need fear again. Shere Khan nodded. "Perhaps the Prey are not so different after all."

Horace returned his nod.

The great khan looked up at the heavens. "I wonder what the Gods will make of this if they ever return?"

Horace followed his gaze, to a bright star said to be the nearest of the many homes of the Gods. "It's not what they'll make of us.

"It's what we make of ourselves."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 _Terra, A Few Years Ago_

Premier Maximus sat down heavily at his desk, which groaned under his weight. The Council of Terra had never quite gotten used to having an elephant Premier, and the hastily reinforced chair was not quite up to his weight. He suspected one day it would collapse completely.

Much like the Council.

Despite the promise of experiments such as Zootopia, the tensions between the various mammal nations were not entirely extinct. There was still a great deal of suspicion, intrigue, and outright hostility between the various nation-states, something the Council could not quite seem to grasp. Maximus was but one of a long line of Premiers who found themselves constantly scrambling to address one crisis or another.

Though, he thought heavily, this particular crisis put the others to shame.

As he sat down, his aide- Philip, a opossum- nodded circumspectly towards the other representatives in the room. "The Gallian representative seems pretty eager today," he said quietly. "Think it's something to do with the Zootopian controversy?"

"Probably," murmured Maximus. "He's trying to save face after all his snide comments about the predator species. Bellwether's arrest makes him look like an idiot."

"As if he needed help," said Philip.

"Indeed." Maximus watched the various representatives to the Terran Council as they whispered to one another. "You would think after nearly five hundred years of peace that we would be unified."

Philip sniffed. "I suspect that our long peace just changed the forms of conflict. You must admit, snide comments and passionate denunciations beat teeth and claws as forms of fighting."

The elephant nodded. "True. But perhaps that will be behind us now." He appeared not to notice the quizzical look Philip gave him. He stood up, wincing slightly- his seventy years were starting to show. He pitched his voice to fill the room, quashing the various conversations that were still on-going. "I hereby call this meeting to order. The Council of Terra is now in session."

At the ritual words, the other members of the council quieted, with the exception of Jean Escurel, the representative of Gallia. The squirrel jumped up. "Premier, if I may have the floor?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned to the other members of the council. They regarded him with an air of weariness, even suspicion when it came to the predator species on the council. His carefully worded diatribes- always phrased in such a way as to avoid outright prejudice- against predators were well known. Even those nations formed primarily of prey species found him wearisome at times.

"Fellow members of the esteemed Council of Terra. Our forefathers created this Council to address the issues that face all nations in a time when-"

Maximus cleared his throat. "With respect, Councilor Escurel, I have not given you leave to proceed."

The squirrel whirled to face the elephant, his eyes wide with apparent outrage. "Your Excellency, I had informed your aide-"

"Sorry, councilor," said Philip. "I hadn't had a chance to speak with the Premier yet."

"But-"

"I am sure everyone will be most interested in what you have to say, councilor," said Maximus, mixing a soothing tone with sarcasm in a way that even the seasoned politicians of the council marvelled at. "But there is something critical I must bring to the council."

"What could be more important than the relationship of predators to prey?" demanded Escurel. He turned back to the rest of the representatives. "The arrest of Mayor Bellwether doesn't change the fact that there are certain issues-"

"Four hours ago," said Maximus, raising his voice, "I was informed that astronomers on the Great Isthmus observed an object appear just outside the orbit of Neptune."

Escurel stopped, turning his attention with the rest of the assembly towards the Premier. "What do you mean? Appeared?"

Maximus continued. "The appearance of the object was accompanied by a burst of Cherenfox radiation, which I am told is the result of an object breaking the speed of light in a given medium."

"But- that's impossible," protested the representative of Antelopia. "There's no medium in deep space where the speed of light could be exceeded." Maximus recalled that he had been appointed to the council as a sort of sinecure, due to his achievements in physics research. Ironically, it seemed he might be better equipped to deal with this news than the politicians and sycophants- the two categories frequently overlapped- that primarily composed the Council.

"Impossible or not, it happened," said Maximus gravely. "Approximately one hour later, a communication was received from the object, which appeared to be using a form of fusion as a thruster source."

"Thruster-" said the Antelopian. "You mean-"

"The object was a space vessel," confirmed Maximus. "The message was decoded by members of the International Scientific Association." He paused, taking some small satisfaction in the rapt attention he was receiving. It was rare for even the Premier to gain the attention of the Council.

"The object identified itself as the human vessel _Hephaestus,_ of the Human Stars. They have requested diplomatic contact with Terra, which they designated as the lost human homeworld."

For a long moment, the representatives of the nations of Terra stared in shock.

Then all hell broke loose.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Zacharias Hunter, a twenty-some odd year veteran of the First Landing Police Department- he had long since stopped keeping track- regarded his most recent caller. "Run that by me again."

The man who had called gave a loud, exaggerated sigh. "Are cops born this stupid, or do they teach it to you in the academy?" He held up his hand, which held several small reddish spheres. "I'll explain it again- maybe this time you'll get it. I bought these from a guy who swears it's genuine Luyten Rose. But I'm not sure about it."

Luyten Rose was a highly addictive, highly dangerous, highly _illegal_ narcotic. Hunter squinted at the spheres. "Looks like it is to me."

"Nah, man, it's usually more purplish. You cops have those testers, right? Can't you check it and see if it's real?"

For a moment, Hunter stared at him. "Let me get this straight. You want me to test this to make sure you're actually in possession of an illegal narcotic?"

The man nodded. "Hey, eventually even a cop can figure it out. Who knew?"

"You know," said Hunter wearily. "I really wanted to just have a nice quiet night for once."

The caller scowled at him. "Lazy damn cops. Look, just let me know if it's the real stuff or not and I'll be on my way."

Hunter opened his mouth, then shook his head in defeat. "Hang on a second." He walked a few steps away and keyed his mike. "Dispatch, this is Hunter."

There was a slight pause. "Dispatch to _Yankee Four Five_ ," said the dispatcher, pointedly emphasizing his unit number. "Go ahead."

"Can I get a unit with a narcotics test kit to check by please?"

"Yankee Five Two," said another voice, which Hunte recognized as Louis Wu, another officer in his district. "I'll be there in two."

"That's clear." Hunter turned back to the caller.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"All right, settle down," said Bogo irritably to the cops in the roll call room. He eyed them, swishing his short tail back and forth. "I'll make this short and sweet."

Judy leaned forward slightly. Nick, beside her, gave her an amused glance. "Excited to get parking duty again?" he murmured.

She flashed him a grin. "Not anymore, not after the Bellwether case."

Bogo glared at them and they quieted. The chief cleared his throat. "First of all, some of you may have not heard the news."

It turned out none of them had. The assembled cops all shared puzzled glances as Bogo continued.

"It seems that the humans- for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, read up on ancient history- have returned. For now, things are peaceful- most mammals aren't sure what to make of it." Bogo looked up, watching them carefully.

"The humans?" said Judy uncertainly. "I thought they were- you know, a myth or something." She looked to Nick and blinked in surprise.

The fox was sitting up straight, his eyes wide. His ears were up, swiveled straight at Bogo, his stance almost quivering with fight-or-flight emotion. He caught her glance and calmed slightly, plastering on an unconvincing smile. "Myth? Didn't you pay attention in your history classes?" he said to her.

"Well..." Judy hesitated. "It wasn't exactly critical to police work, so-"

"Come on, Carrots, is that all you ever thought about?" Nick shook his head. "This is big."

Bogo pointed at the fox. "That's exactly what I'm worried about."

"Who, me?"

Bogo nodded, then caught himself. "No, not you." He stopped, frowning. "At least, not right now. No, I mean that reaction. A lot of mammals aren't going to know what to think about this. Some of them may not react well at all. So all of you need to be on your hooves today. Or toes," he added, forestalling Delgado's raised paw.

"I don't get it," said Judy uncertainly as Bogo began doling out the assignments. "I mean, at least it's not aliens or something. Didn't the humans leave when we evolved? What's so scary about them?"

Nick shook his head. "Ever hear of the War, Fluff?"

"Which war?"

" _The_ war." He looked down and smiled ruefully at her confused expression. "Never mind. I guess it's all ancient history now." He stretched ostentatiously. "I don't see how it's going to matter to us, anyway. I doubt we'll ever even lay our eyes on a human."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So what do you need tested?" asked Wu, as he walked up. He stared in surprise when Hunter's caller stepped forward and held out his hand.

"This!" said the caller irritably. "Is this Luyten Rose or not?"

Wu looked at him, then raised an eyebrow at Hunter. "He wants to know if he has dope or not?"

Hunter shrugged. "He thinks it might not be real."

"Did he think this through?"

"Oh, come on already! Can't you just test it so I can go?" asked the man angrily. "I pay your salaries, you know."

The two cops gave each other knowing looks and Wu carefully took the alleged narcotics. "Right away, sir." He walked to his patrol car, Hunter following. "So did you hear the news? It's pretty crazy."

"Did the Harriers finally win the cup?"

Wu shook his head. "Game's not until next week, Zach."

"Well, it would be pretty crazy if they won already, wouldn't it?"

The other cop rolled his eyes. "The X-Corps discovered a new world."

Hunter shrugged. "So? Isn't that, you know, their job?"

"Yeah, but not like this." Wu popped the trunk of his patrol car and pulled the test kit out of his bag. He looked at Hunter. "It's Terra."

"Terra?" Hunter frowned. "Like, the mythical human homeworld?"

"Um, you know it's not mythical that we come from another world, right? We work in a city called _First Landing_. That's what we in the police business call a clue."

"Don't be sarcastic at me, Wu. I've got dibs on that." Hunter broke off a tiny piece of one of the Rose spheres and dropped it in the tester.

"That's not the craziest part, though," said Wu as Hunter shook the tester. "Apparently, the whole planet's inhabited."

"By who? The Drex?" asked Hunter absently. "Sounds like another war brewing. It does seem to be that time of the decade. Hope they don't blow up anything important."

"Nope," said Wu. "By talking animals."

Hunter paused. "By what?"

"Talking animals. Elephants, wolves, squirrels, bunny rabbits- intelligent, sapient mammals." Wu grinned at Hunter's befuddled look.

"Sapient mammals?' said Hunter. "You're joking, right?"

"Afraid not. Some sort of experiment of our ancestors, I guess, something that got out of hand." Wu shrugged. "We've entered diplomatic negotations with them."

Hunter blinked. "I didn't know the government knew how to do that."

"Yeah, I guess the Ministry of First Contact had to dust off a really old playbook for this one. One that doesn't start with 'shoot first,' and have 'ask questions' at the very back."

The tester slowly turned blue, then green. Hunter frowned at it. "Damn."

"What?" said Wu, surprised. "It's real Luyten Rose, all right."

"Yeah," said Hunter, annoyed. "Now I have to arrest the idiot. I was hoping I'd be able to get through the entire shift without doing anything."

The idiot in question, who had been nervously kibitzing behind their back, suddenly approached. "So what's the deal? Is it real?" he demanded.

Hunter turned to him. "Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, you are in possession of genuine Luyten Rose." He held up the tester and regarded it with a critical eye. "Pretty potent mix, looks like."

"All right!" enthused the man. He reached for it, but hesitated when Hunter drew back his hand. A thought struck him. "What's the bad news?"

Hunter took out his handcuffs. "Same as the good news, actually."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Maximus glanced down at Philip. "This is the human ship?"

The opossum nodded. "Yes, Premier- well, their shuttlecraft. The main ship is still in orbit." He pointed up. "See that bright dot?"

The elephant looked up. "The one that's moving?"

"Yes, sir. That's the human ship."

Maximus blinked. The space program of various Terran nations were still in their infancy- the Luna landings had happened when he was only a child, and not much had occurred since. He had long ago stopped paying close attention, as his focus was consumed with working his way through the byzantine political process that had replaced- well, largely replaced- the former violence between the various species of the planet. "It's visible from here?"

"It's quite large, Premier. The size of a tanker ship, at the least." Philip regarded the bright dot thoughtfully. "And it's a scout craft of theirs." He looked up at the elephant. "We must be careful, Max. The humans have been in space for longer than we've been civilized. We cannot underestimate them."

The elephant nodded soberly, and turned his attention to the shuttlecraft.

Slowly, it slowed in its approach, hovering before finally coming to a standstill a short distance away. Maximus- and the other Terran representatives- stared in awe. Despite the large size, it seemed to float in the air- no sound was heard, no disturbance of the dust of the landing field could be seen. "Is it some sort of hovercraft?" asked Maximus hesitantly,

"No, your Excellency," said a panda, adjusting his spectacles. He was Dr. Qing Yu, a noted physicist. He watched the shuttlecraft intently. "If I am not very much mistaken, it's some form of anti-gravity. Note the lack of a ground effect."

"Anti-gravity," murmured Maximus. He shared a look with his aide. "It seems like something out of a movie."

"I will be most interested in finding out how they do it," said Dr. Yu.

"I will be most interested in finding out if they will _tell_ us how they do it," said Maximus, though too quietly for the panda to hear.

The shuttle finally landed, and the assembled Terrans held their breath as the door slowly slid open, a ramp extending to the ground. Most of them took a step back when two armed beings- humans, it seemed- appeared. A few gasped when they saw them, and Maximus suppressed a wince when he heard a low growl. Some Terrans remembered their history all too well.

The two armed humans scanned the area, their gazes resting on the elephant, before stepping to either side of the ramp. They snapped their weapons- rifles of some sort- into present arms.

Dressed in a severe black uniform with gold piping, another human walked down the ramp. The human hesitated slightly before stepping onto the soil, and when the human's foot hit the dirt Maximus heard an almost inaudible sigh of satisfaction. He frowned- there was an almost proprietary air about the human.

The uniformed human- a female, if Maximus was not very much mistaken, though he couldn't be sure- stepped forward and saluted smartly. "Captain Lata Moreau, Human Stars Explorator Corps."

Maximus inclined his head gravely. "Captain. I am honored to be the first to welcome you to Terra. I am Premier Maximus of the Council of Terra."

"The honor is mine," said Moreau gravely. "It has been over ten thousand years since a human has stepped foot on our ancient homeworld." She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. "It feels like home."

Maximus ignored the concerned murmurs from the other representatives. "I suppose it is," he said neutrally. "Home for all mammals. A place of rest. A place of peace."

Moreau looked him in the eyes, her gaze assessing. "A place of peace?" she said, musingly. "I hope so. My people need such a place." She gestured to the armed humans, who saluted and trotted back into the shuttlecraft. Maximus and the other mammals- who had long ago forsworn such weaponry- watched them go with trepidation.

The human captain extended a paw. "Premier Maximus. Thank you for your kind greeting. I expect great things from the coming days."

Cautiously, Maximus accepted her paw in his. "I, too, hope that our civilizations can reach an understanding based on mutual respect."

He had spent a fair amount of time reviewing the history of humanity known to mammals, such as it was. Since the conflict between humans and Terra's mammals had started almost as soon as mammals became sentient, there was little to be found. Modern archaeologists had reconstructed the war- a misnomer, as the conflict had been closer to a failed attempt at extermination than a true fight- to some degree, but who the humans truly were, what they represented, was still a mystery to the premier. Were they the monsters legends made them out to be? Or was there more to it than that?

The human inclined her head again politely. "We bear you no ill will, Premier, and hope for peaceful relations. The past is in the past, as they say. It falls to us to create a better future."

The words failed to break the tension Maximus could feel in the mammals behind him, but he forced a smile. "Well said, captain. Will you be handling the negotations, then?"

She shook her head. "No, I was tasked with making initial contact. The Ministry of First Contacts will be sending diplomats as soon as possible." She smiled at him, though it didn't quite reach her calculating eyes. "For now, perhaps we can exchange information about each other's cultures. To avoid misunderstandings, you know."

"Misunderstandings," repeated Maximus. He nodded slowly. "Yes, it is important that we both understand one another."

Moreau raised an eyebrow. "I think, Premier Maximus, that you will find you understand us without any difficulty at all." Her eyes flicked towards the sky, where a bright dot leisurely made its way across the heavens.

 _Author's Notes:_

 _Okay, folks, don't mean to get your hopes up- this is just the prologue. It's still going to be a bit before I get well into the story proper. I just wanted to post this because I enjoyed writing it so much._

 _The basis of the predator-prey conflict is the real-life conflict between herders/nomads and farmers/sedentary peoples in human history. I figured predators would naturally gravitate towards the nomadic lifestyle, and this gives them various advantages in battle. Even the Romans, the preeminent military power of its time, lost decisively when fighting the Scythians. The Huns and the Mongols also devastated the settled peoples. Only with the increasing numbers, organization, and technology (especially firearms) did the advantage finally swing back to the farmers. A parallel history seems likely with predator-prey conflict._

 _The speeches given by the predators (the Wolf Mother and the great Khan) are based heavily on the speech of Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce when he surrendered, though the only line I stole completely was the "I shall fight no more again forever" part. There's no way to improve upon that. Please note that while I am drawing parallels here, I don't mean to imply that the situations were identical- the morality of the wars against the Native American peoples and this fictional war between the predators and prey is substantially different._

 _There is also a parallel to be drawn between the high-tech (comparatively speaking) prey versus the predators, and the high-tech humans versus the mammals of Terra in the "present day" of the story. How this is handled is going to be important._

 _As far as how long it will take me to continue- please be patient. I'm hoping to get a substantial amount done by next week, enough that I can start posting a chapter or two. I will also be keeping humor involved in the mix, of course. Hope you enjoy!_


	2. Chapter 1- No Bill

Chapter 1: No Bill

Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won.

-Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington

The clock was ticking.

Literally. And it was driving Nick crazy.

He and Judy sat in the hallway outside one of the courtrooms in downtown Zootopia. The hallway was mostly empty, with only a few attorneys, legal assistants, or members of the public making their way through the building on errands known only to themselves. Their heels clicked on the cheap, hard-wearing tile floor as they rushed past. The clock on the wall continued inexorably marking time, as it had for the past four hours they had been sitting here.

Nick squirmed to try and find a semi-comfortable position on the hard wooden bench. "As much waiting as there is here, you'd think they could get some comfortable seating," he muttered.

"That's the seventh time you said that," said Judy, looking up from her book. "I told you to bring a book."

"I didn't have anything to read."

"There's plenty to read back at the apartment."

He rolled his eyes. "Mostly your books. Police procedurals, criminal justice textbooks, and books with titles like 'Leadership for Leaders in the Lead.'"

"That's not a real book," said Judy. She hesitated. "I think. Besides, I need to study for the promotional exam. I've got enough time now to promote."

Nick sighed. "You're sure about that?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I want to promote?"

"Because you'd be a supervisor."

She frowned. "So?"

"You'd be responsible for cops like me."

"You're not that bad."

"And Hunter."

That gave her pause for thought. Before she could speak, however, the door swung open.

Zacharias Hunter walked through.

He blinked when he saw them. "Hey, guys. You didn't have to stay the whole time. I was in there for- what, three hours?"

"Four," said Nick, standing up. "Which was kind of surprising to me."

"Well, four hours of testimony isn't all that long-"

"I figured you'd annoy the judge and get arrested for contempt of court after no more than two."

"Thanks, Nick. You're a ray of sunshine."

"So how'd it go?" asked Judy, nervously. "I mean, you were there a long time-"

"The grand jury has a lot to think over," said Hunter. "I mean, I killed one innocent mammal- even if it was under duress- several humans, and Lucas."

"You mean several humans including Lucas," corrected Judy.

He gave her a level look. "No."

"Do you think they'll-" Nick hesitated as Hunter turned to look down at him.

"I don't know, Nick." He rubbed his face with both hands. "Frankly, I'd indict me. But this was a real odd situation. Whatever their decision, it's going to take a long time to-"

The door opened again, and a kangaroo who Judy and Nick recognized as Hunter's lawyer poked his head through. "Mr. Hunter."

"Carl," said Hunter warily. "What's up?"

The kangaroo stepped out slowly. He looked up at his client's face. "They made a decision."

"What?" said Hunter, his voice rising an octave or two. "Already?"

The kangaroo held out a document. "No bill."

Judy and Nick sighed in relief, but Hunter just looked puzzled. "No bill? On all counts?"

"All counts," said the lawyer. He shook his head slowly. "I'm not sure what to make of it."

"I don't understand," said Judy, glancing between the kangaroo and human. "Isn't this good news?"

"Yeah," said Hunter, slowly. "Yeah." He forced a smile. "I guess it is. Well, it's time to see Bogo, then. Maybe I can get off suspension a couple of days early."

He started to walk away. Judy followed, but Nick lingered behind. He looked at the attorney. "Okay, Carl, what's going on?"

Carl shook his head. "Never seen anything like it. On a case like this- it should have taken a long time. I mean, sure, Hunter's testimony was the last piece of evidence they heard- but still." He looked at the courtroom. "Something doesn't smell right about this."

"A set-up, maybe?" wondered Nick. "Someone fixed the grand jury?"

"Maybe not," said Carl. He shrugged. "Hunter's a bit of a hero, right now. This may just be simple politics. But-" he turned and pointed to Nick. "He's on thin ice, regardless of the outcome here. You and Ms. Hopps need to keep him out of trouble." With that, he picked up his briefcase and walked away.

Nick and Judy watched him go. Judy looked at Nick. "Keep him out of trouble?"

"Yeah, I know."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"No bill," said Bogo, looking up from the folder at the mayor.

Mayor Julius Procyon nodded. "That's correct. So you can reinstate Officer Hunter whenever you're ready."

"They no-billed him." Bogo's voice was flat.

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked the mayor. "I know he's caused you a lot of trouble, but surely you didn't want him standing trial."

The water buffalo shook his head. "Want? No. Expect? Yes." He gestured to the paperwork. "The soldiers he shot- that was self-defense. Even Lucas- well, I don't think anyone can say that monster didn't get what he deserved. But it's pretty clear that he shot Cornelius Hart, when he was presenting no threat to Hunter."

"He was under duress," said the mayor. "He had no choice-"

"Maybe not. But that's something for a jury to decide in a trial."

The mayor put down his pen and narrowed his eyes at Bogo. "He's a hero to many Zootopians, Chief. Your dislike of him-"

"I don't dislike him, Mr. Mayor," interrupted Bogo. "Yes, he's arrogant, and impulsive, and views regulations as challenges rather than obstacles, and- hang on, I had a point." He frowned, thinking, then continued. "But the law is the law, and police officers should be more, not less, subject to its strictures. I feel for Hunter. I think that the overwhelming likelihood is that he would be acquitted at trial. But the citizens need to see that justice is done, in an open trial, not in the closed proceedings of a grand jury."

The mayor leaned back, folding his paws across his stomach. "It's ZPD policy to indefinitely suspend anyone under indictment, is it not?"

"Yes," said Bogo. "And?"

"If Hunter was indicted, then he wouldn't be a cop."

"If he was acquitted, he could come back," said Bogo.

"And how long would that take?" asked Procyon, pointing a pen at the chief. "Two years? Three? We don't have that much time, Bogo."

"I don't understand-"

"No, I don't expect you do." Procyon turned his attention to the paperwork on his desk. "What you do understand, I hope, are orders. Reinstate Hunter immediately."

Bogo's expression froze. He stood up. "He violated a number of regulations, regardless of the outcome of the grand jury."

"Then punish him," said Procyon carelessly. "Anything short of suspension is fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, Chief Bogo, I have a lot of work to do."

"Yes, sir." Bogo managed, barely, to avoid slamming the door on his way out.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi stood with her paws on her hips, glaring up at the black, sloped armor of a King Cobra Light Battle Tank. The tank hovered, the anti-grav generators emitting a low, menacing hum. Around her, the civilian maintenance crewmammals in the repair bay watched fearfully, most peeking out from behind various items of cover.

"This is not a standard maintenance operation," rumbled Shepherd, the name Tavi had given the tank.

"It is now," replied Tavi, her voice stern, her tiny figure dwarfed by the massive hunk of steel. Well, mostly steel. The exact components of the human armor was being excitedly studied by a cluster of scientists.

Or had been. Now most of them were hiding behind a stack of crates.

The tank spun slightly, scanning the area, before turning back to Tavi. "Commander, this unit must report a series of failures among maintenance personnel in this area of operations. This unit's ammunition supplies have not been refilled, standard training exercises have been routinely-"

Tavi rolled her eyes. "You're not a military tank anymore, Shepherd. You're a cop."

"It's not a cop!" shouted Scruggs, another ZPD officer in charge of the Bomb Squad. He had been pretty interested in the armor, as well. "How many times- eep!" He ducked again behind a damaged police cruiser as the tank swiveled to face him.

The tank scanned the cruiser. "This unit estimates that it would take thirty-eight milliseconds to eliminate that intruder," it reported.

Tavi sighed as the few maintenance crewmammals that had remained in the open abruptly vanished. "It's not polite to tell everyone how long it would take to kill them," she said scoldingly. "And stop saying 'this unit'. We've talked about this. You say 'I' when referring to yourself."

"I," repeated the tank, thoughtfully. "This is also non-standard procedure."

"Well, get used to it. Now, if it bothers you so much, you can power down for the procedure."

Shepherd spun to scan the room again, which Tavi had gradually learned meant indicated reluctance or nervousness, the equivalent of a mammal fidgeting. "Power down," it repeated. "Is that an order, Commander?"

"Your choice. Either be calm and let these mammals do their job, or power down while they do it."

Several crewmammals standing beside a hose and sud-filled bucket exchanged nervous glances.

"Choice," said the tank. "This is a non-standard-"

"Shepherd!" Tavi stamped a foot. "We're not arguing about this anymore! One way or another, you are getting a bath!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Judy sat in the officer's work-room, her nose buried in a book about- well, she wasn't sure what it was about. Primarily it seemed to be a bunch of buzz-words mixed with the occasional anecdote of uncertain origin or purpose. It was, naturally, one of the books recommended for the promotional exam's reading list. With a sigh, she stopped trying to determine just how the term "synergy" was being defined in the current chapter and looked up at Nick, who was tapping away at the one of the computers line up in the room. "How's it going?"

"It's a four vehicle automotive accident, with six witnesses and about eighteen different stories," growled Nick. "It's going to take a while."

"You sure you don't want me to-"

"No," he said, looking up at her. "It's fine. I need to get better at this." He sighed. "Especially since I won't have supercop as my partner anymore."

Judy smiled. "Well, not at work- you still have me as your 'partner'."

He gave her a smile in return. "Right." He glanced at the door. "Didn't Tavi say she'd meet us here?"

"She's on the way. She said she was giving Shepherd a bath."

Nick's eyebrows rose. "Isn't Shepherd the tank? Wouldn't that be more like, I don't know, a car wash ?"

"I'm just repeating what she said," replied Judy, shrugging.

The door flew open. Tavi walked through, her fur soaked through, leaving small puddles as she squished through the room. She looked at Judy and Nick, who were staring at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"Is it raining outside?" asked Judy tentatively.

Tavi shook her head. "No," she said. She wrung out her tail. "I was giving Shepherd a bath."

"By jumping into the bay with him?"

"He doesn't like baths." Tavi jumped onto a seat, scowling at the puddle that immediately started to form. "Apparently."

Nick and Judy exchanged shrugs. "Well, there's good news. Hunter's off the hook. The grand jury no-billed him."

Tavi's ears snapped up and she straightened to look at them. "Already?"

"Yep," said Judy cheerfully. "So maybe things can get back to normal soon."

"Normal?" said Nick thoughtfully. "I wonder what that would be like."

"It's pretty much paperwork," said Hunter's voice. They all turned around to see him in the door way. He walked up behind Nick, squinting at the computer screen. He was dressed- for him- strangely, in a suit and tie. "You know you misspelled 'contradictory' like, seventeen times. All different ways, too."

Nick glared at him. "Okay, well, how's it supposed to be spelled?"

"Well, you know the one way you haven't tried yet? That's it."

"Zach!" shouted Tavi. She ran across the table and jumped up at him, hugging his neck. "You're back!"

"Well, not quite," he said, peeling her off and setting her on the desk as he sat down. "I'm here to meet with Bogo. Gotta make a good impression, which is why I'm dressed- so-" he trailed off, looking down at his suddenly soaked shirt front.

Tavi winced as he looked at her. "Um. Sorry, had to give Shepherd a bath."

Hunter eyed her skeptically. "A bath, huh?" He sighed. "Rookies."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You can go in," said Clawhauser nervously. He had escorted Hunter- who was still technically suspended and thus needed an officer with him- to Bogo's office. "Good luck, Zach."

"Thanks, Benjamin." Taking a deep breath, Hunter knocked at the door.

"Enter," said Bogo from inside.

Hunter walked in, feeling unsure. He was in civilian clothes, not a uniform- should he stand at attention? He stopped in front of the desk, and decided to settle for a sort of parade rest, hands clasped behind his back.

Bogo ignored him, reading a document.

Hunter cleared his throat.

The chief turned a page, his eyes still on the document. He adjusted his glasses slightly.

Feeling a bit confused, and slightly annoyed, Hunter glanced around the office. He wandered over to the wall and began reading one of the certificates. "Hey, you won the Lifesavings Award? Wow, you must have been a whole lot younger- I mean, wow."

Bogo flicked an ear, but otherwise ignored him.

Hunter was starting to get impatient- and a bit angry. "You know," he said, tapping the award. "I got one of these when I was a brand-new rookie on-"

He must have tapped a bit harder than he had planned. The framed certificate came loose and crashed to the floor. Hunter winced, and winced harder when the rest of the frames fell to the ground as well.

Hunter looked down at the mess, then up at Bogo. Well, he had his full attention now, at least. "I'll clean that up-"

"Just sit, Hunter." Bogo stood up, his eyes locked on Hunter. He pointed at a chair. "Honestly, it's like having a six-year old as a cop."

Hunter hastily sat down. "Hey, those weren't particularly secure, I barely-"

"Forget it, Hunter. It's not the first disaster you caused, and definitely not the worst."

That was not the best way to start the interview. Hunter started to speak but stopped when Bogo held up the document he was reading.

"You were no-billed by a grand jury on all counts," said Bogo quietly. "I've been reviewing the investigation."

"The investigation's over," said Hunter. "It's done."

"First-degree murder of one Brandon Knowles," read Bogo. "No bill. First degree murder of Ivan Santiago- no bill. First-degree murder of two unknown humans- no bill."

Hunter frowned. "Sir, what's the point of this?"

Bogo ignored him. "First-degree murder of Lucas Jaeger, aka Klaus Lucas." He looked Hunter in the eyes. "No bill."

"He was the worst kind of scum, sir. He needed killing."

"That's not your decision to make," said Bogo, his voice calm.

"With respect, sir, you weren't there. You didn't go through what he put me through."

"He wouldn't have been able to get to you so thoroughly, Hunter, if you had just followed procedure. If you had just trusted your fellow officers." Bogo slammed his fist down on his desk, stifling Hunter's protests. "If you had just trusted me."

Hunter leapt to his feet angrily. "You didn't believe me when I told you who he was!"

Bogo rose as well, keeping his eyes level with Hunter. "I told you I needed proof!"

"And I was getting it!" Hunter turned away. "The important part of what you just read, chief," he continued, his voice low and rough with emotion, "are two words. No bill. I'm not-"

The chief held up the document again. "First degree murder of Cornelius Hart."

Hunter froze. He turned to look back at the chief, who held his gaze. The chief looked back down at the document. "No bill." He looked up again at Hunter. "Is that the important part of this document, Hunter?"

Wordlessly, Hunter shook his head. He sat back down heavily, his shoulders slumped and his head down.

For a long moment, Bogo considered him. "You broke a lot of regulations, Hunter. And there are things that could be considered criminal even if they weren't part of the grand jury's deliberations. Obstruction of justice, evading arrest, resisting arrest."

Still not raising his eyes, Hunter nodded. "I screwed up," he said in a low voice.

"There have to be consequences."

"Sir."

Bogo reached into his desk. Hunter looked up as a gleam caught his eye. He blinked at the shiny object Bogo was holding in his paw. "My badge, sir?"

The chief nodded.

Hesitantly, Hunter reached for it.

Bogo pulled it back. "No."

"Sir," said Hunter, his voice a plea. "This is all I've ever done."

"I'm going to hang onto this," said Bogo. He picked up a folder, fat with papers, and handed it to Hunter. "Because first, you have to convince me you deserve it."

Hunter took the folder. He looked down at it, then back at the chief, who cocked an eyebrow at him. Taking a deep breath, he opened it.

He looked up, his face very still. "ZPD Police Academy? You want me to teach at the police academy?"

Bogo snorted. "Hardly. You need to learn a few things about how we do things here, Hunter. And there's a great deal you need to unlearn, as well. I'm not sending you to the academy to teach, Hunter. I'm sending you there to learn." He stood up. "You'll need to re-earn that badge the same way everyone here at the ZPD did. By going through the academy."

Hunter looked back down at the paperwork, noticing now that what he thought was a transfer form was an application. "This is some sort of joke, right?" he asked desperately. "I've got over twenty years of police experience!"

"Then it should be easy for you. You're dismissed." Bogo smiled. "Cadet Hunter."

 _Author's Notes:_

 _This will be a bit long. The first paragraph is the main one- the next ones are more just me talking about my process, so feel free to skip them if you're not interested._

 _First and foremost, writing on this is going a bit slowly. Partly it's because work has been insane lately, and partly because I'm still working out exactly where I'm going and what I'm going to be doing in this story. I do promise that it will get completed- I really don't like it when fics die, though I understand how it can happen. That's assuming something doesn't happen to me, of course. As far as more specifics- I know I was hoping to really get going last week or this week, and I am writing, but it may be a bit before I really get a good number of chapters out. Once I hit my stride I expect to do my usual two or three chapters a week, though._

 _Second, I wanted to say how much I appreciate the reviews, especially the ones that offered criticism. As I may have mentioned before, this was primarily intended as a low-pressure, low-stakes way to practice my writing, and several things I need to work on have been ably pointed out. For example, stylistically, I've been doing a poor job on scene description. Please let me know if I improve or fail to do so- I will never take offense at criticism, though if it's completely non-constructive I'll likely ignore it._

 _Apropos of that, it has also been pointed out, directly and indirectly, that I've tended to make the humans in this fic seem pretty, well, evil. That's valid. I didn't mean to, specifically- I deliberately designed human society in this universe to be a foil to Zootopian society, and so it tends to be a bit dystopic. That said, I should have- and intend to- show exactly how human society got to where it is. Some of the things they're accused of that seem like pure evil may make a bit more sense. Doesn't mean the humans don't have problems, but their society is a rational response to the issues they're dealing with._

 _Which brings me to this fic. Part of what's been taking me so long is that I've been doing a lot of research for my world-building. I've been re-reading_ Guns, Germs and Steel _by Jared Diamond,_ Carnage and Culture _by Victor Davis Hanson, and a newer book called_ Sapiens _by Yuval Noah Harari. I highly recommend all three, though I don't necessarily agree with all the conclusions in them- they will make you think, though. I'm also re-visiting Nietzsche to some extent and trying to ensure my science fiction is at least somewhat plausible. Hopefully all this research will stand me in good stead, though you guys will be the judge of that._

 _For those who want to see the humans really come into their own, however- I plan to do that in this fic. The first fic was something I knocked out over a couple of weeks, and so I used a cookie cutter plot and some questionable plot decisions (I'm really considering re-writing it). I used some humans as the bad guys because it worked well with that plot. The second I wrote to experiment with differing points of view, suspense, and mystery elements. The plot I came up with required someone from Hunter's past, which meant humans had to be the bad guys again. This time, I intend to show exactly what it might mean for the Terrans when they're dealing with a civilization- humanity- that's nearly an order of magnitude older than they are. They're not perfect, but in many ways they are much more mature and realistic than a planetary society would be. That said, there might be a few things the Terrans can teach humanity, as well. I think it will be an interesting story to tell._

 _Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy._

 _PS: I should also note that I struggled for a long time with the grand jury process in this bit. Bogo is right- Hunter should have been indicted, though perhaps not convicted. Political interference seemed to be both a way out- I needed him to still be a cop for the plot, even if only a cadet- and reasonable enough._


	3. Chapter 2- New Thoughts

"Yet the truly unique feature of our language is not its ability to transmit information about men and lions. Rather, it's the ability to transmit information about things that do not exist at all. As far as we know, only Sapiens can talk about entire kinds of entities that they have never seen, touched, or smelled."

-Yuval Noah Harari, _Sapiens_

Hunter, still clutching the folder, reached for the door to the apartment he was currently sharing with Nick and Judy. He hesitated.

His whole identity was wrapped up in his work as a police officer. For, despite his cynicism and apparent laziness, he really believed he was doing good work, and that he was a damned good cop. It wasn't what he'd thought it would be- there was a lot more shades of grey than he had ever imagined in the job. But once he had managed to get past that, he had learned to appreciate the few times that he knew he was in the right. And to appreciate that the journey was even more important than the destination.

Or so he had thought.

Each step he had taken on this path seemed so right at the time. No one would believe him about Lucas? Then he'd find proof. His friends would be in danger? Then stay away. He realized he wasn't getting anywhere, that things had gone too far? Then give himself up.

Each step had been one more on the way to that rooftop. To raising a gun on an innocent mammal.

He flinched as his mind replayed the gunshot.

He looked down at the folder. It was a humiliation. It was a rebuke. It was less than what he deserved.

Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

Nick and Judy were watching television. Their ears perked up as they heard the door open, both turning towards him. "Hey, Zach," said Judy. "So, what's the good news?"

Deserved or not, it was still embarrassing. He tossed her the folder.

She caught it, frowning, and flipped it open. She read the first form and looked up in astonishment.

"So," said Hunter, forcing a smile. "You guys want to help me shop for the supplies I'll need?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You called for me, sir?" asked Major Friedkin, training instructor for ZPD's Police Academy. The polar bear shifted slightly, eyeing the shattered glass and frames on the floor of the office. She shot Bogo a questioning look.

"How many cadets in the current training class?" asked Bogo, ignoring the implied query.

"Forty-five, sir. Including four antelope, six wolves, three-"

"Just the number is fine, Major." Bogo stood up. "You're going to be taking one more."

"Sir?"

"Zacharias Hunter."

Friedkin was a trainer, now, not in the field, but even she had heard of Hunter. She blinked. "He's going to go through the academy? That's his punishment?"

"Training," corrected Bogo. "I think he needs more training. The academy is for training. Seems simple enough."

"But sir- hasn't he got something like twenty years of police experience?"

"Yes- on AlphaCen. Dealing with humans. Initially, he was taken on as a full police officer as a sort of courtesy, or perhaps more accurately a publicity stunt. Show how similar we were or something like that." Bogo shook his head. "The status sort of stuck, after things fell apart. Until they fell apart even more. Frankly, I don't think he belongs here anymore." He walked over and picked up one of the less damaged frames. "He's, well..." He picked up another frame, which had the glass shattered out of it, the paper inside slipping loose to the floor. They both looked at the frame. Neither said the word they were both thinking.

Broken.

She frowned at Bogo. "Sir, with respect, I don't think putting him in a class full of enthusiastic, cheerful, and- not to put too fine a point on it- _stupid_ young cadets will help him."

"Fortunately for me, I'm the chief," said Bogo, carefully placing the frames on a nearby shelf. He turned back to Friedkin. "Because I think that's exactly what he needs. He's a good cop. He's just lost sight of what he's here for. He's had a long career, and what he's been through might just be what burns him out." Bogo picked up the frame and fitted it back together before setting it down carefully. "He just needs to find his second wind."

The polar bear sighed. "I'll go easy on him."

"No, don't do that," said Bogo. "For one thing, he's smart enough to pick up on it, and proud enough to resent it. Second- well, he needs to suffer some consequences. Don't let him get hurt- much- but don't go easy on him."

The polar bear gave him a narrow look. "I thought you said this wasn't punishment."

Bogo raised an eyebrow at her. "Dismissed, Major."

"Sir."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Judy smiled as she walked down the busy street, measuring her pace to Nick's. Around them, mammals walking smiled back at her before they even quite realized what they were doing. Some did double-takes as they recognized the now-famous duo. The sun lit up the shops, glinted off of cars and trucks making their way sedately down the road. The sky was a bright blue with hardly a cloud in the sky.

"I love foot patrol," said Judy wistfully.

Nick gave her a sidelong look. He stopped, reaching down to rub his aching calf. "You would."

She stopped as well and watched him as he sat- almost flopped down on a bench. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a rest," said Nick. He leaned back on the bench, throwing his arms across the back of it. "We've walked-" he took out his phone and checked a pedometer app "-nearly seven miles this morning." He tucked the phone back into his shirt pocket. "How could you possibly still have so much energy?"

Judy frowned. "What do you mean, so much energy?"

He looked at her, then looked down at her feet.

Following his gaze, she realized she was tapping her foot impatiently. She willed herself to stop. "I guess I'm just a morning mammal."

"I know," said Nick, ruefully. "Have you ever slept past eight?"

"Eight in the morning?" she said, shocked. "That's half the day gone!"

He blinked at her. "Who taught you math?"

"Figuratively speaking!"

He started to speak, but was cut off by the radio. "Juliet One Eight. Dispatch to Juliet One Eight."

"One Eight," answered Nick, narrowly beating Judy to keying his mike. "What's up, Clawhauser?"

"Hey, Nick. Are you near Eighth and Lions?"

Nick frowned, envisioning his mental map of the area. "No, not anywhere near it. That's like three miles away."

"Oh. Because Captain Tailwhisker is asking to meet up with you two there. Tavi and Shepherd are also en-route."

"Well, we're nowhere near it. Where else can she meet us?"

There was a long pause. "You know, she really seemed to want to meet up with you there."

"Okay, but we've already established that we're a long way from there."

Clawhauser's voice seemed hesitant. "Did I say that it was Captain Tailwhisker? _Captain_?"

Nick looked at Judy, then at his radio. "Clawhauser? Did the captain _ask_ that we meet with her, or did she _order_ us to meet her there?"

"She said to ask you-"

"Clawhauser."

"I mean, she never said the word _order-_ "

"Clawhauser!"

The cheetah sighed. "Thirty minutes, she said. And there might have been a bit of an, um, ordery sort of tone to it."

"Ordery sort of tone," repeated Nick, rolling his eyes.

Judy grimaced, glanced at her phone to check the time. "Juliet One Eight, that's clear. We're enroute," she said.

Nick groaned as he stood up. "Thirty minutes to walk three miles? That's just not fair."

"Who said anything about walking?" said Judy confidently. She stretched her legs, leaning one way than the other.

"You've got an alternative?" When she nodded, the fox brightened. "You going to call us a patrol unit?"

"Nope, they're all busy."

His face fell. "Then it looks like we're going to be walking."

Judy grinned. "Try again." With that, she dashed away, threading her way through the surprised pedestrians. "Race you there!" she called over her shoulder.

Nick stared at her. "Bunnies," he muttered. He rushed to catch up with her.

"When I said alternative, I did not mean running!" he shouted.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Judy jogged the last few steps up to the street corner and, lacking any other suitable landmark, slapped her paw against a lamp post. "I win!"

She looked back as Nick, gasping for breath, staggered down the block. "We- were not- racing," he wheezed. She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'll grant you it wasn't much of a race, with you being way, way behind me for the entire thing," she said teasingly.

He leaned against the lamp post with one paw, holding the other to his ribs, and gave her a flat look. "Way- too much- energy, bunny."

"You know, you were in the Academy more recently than I was. There's no excuse for you to be so out of shape."

Nick had finally caught his breath, though he was still panting heavily, his tongue lolling out. "I'm older than you," he pointed out. "And wiser. I know when to save my energy."

She rolled her eyes. "As much energy as you 'save', you should be able to run twice the distance without stopping."

"Hey, now."

"Judy! Nick!"

They both turned to see Tavi hurrying toward them, smiling brightly. "Glad you got here in time!" She paused as she saw their eyes widen, then looked behind her. "Shepherd! I told you to stay! Bad tank!"

Shepherd, who had hovered quietly along in her wake across the street- causing quite a stir among the drivers, several of whom were craning their heads out of their windows to stare at the tank- stopped abruptly in the street. "Commander, your safety is this unit's primary objective-"

"Your primary objective, Shepherd," she said firmly. "Not 'this unit'."

The tank hesitated. "My primary objective," said Shepherd carefully. "There are multiple potentially dangerous vehicles in the area."

Tavi frowned, looked around as Nick and Judy exchanged looks. "What potentially dangerous vehicles?"

The tank paused, then swiveled, scanning the street. "Running sensors diagnostic," it murmured. There was another pause. "I suggest you pick up your visual scanning, Commander. I am picking up forty-five potential targets in the immediate area."

"The cars," said Judy. "It means the cars."

"What?" said Tavi. She looked around curiously at the stopped traffic. A jaguar stopped at the light was staring at the tank, eyes wide. The light turned green and no one moved. "They're not potentially dangerous."

"It's designed by humans," explained Nick, eyeing the tank cautiously. "To them, everything is potentially dangerous."

"It's also completely stopped traffic," said Judy.

A gazelle driver, either unaware of or unimpressed by the tank in the intersection, suddenly honked his horn.

The tank spun around, the pitch of the anti-grav unit rising as more power was fed to it. It rose higher in the air. It focused on the car that had honked and shot towards it, until it was directly in front of the car.

"Um," said Tavi nervously. "Shepherd-"

The tank tilted to face the suddenly petrified gazelle. "Your vehicle emitted a distress call," said the tank. "What is the nature of your emergency?"

"I- er, I- that is, there's no emergency," stammered the gazelle.

The tank hovered closer. "Sensors indicated it was this vehicle. Scanning for damage." There was a low hum. The gazelle shrank into his seat. The tank swiveled a sensor at him. "Do not be alarmed. Radiation exposure from the scanning apparatus are well within yearly limits for a being of your specifications."

The gazelle blinked. "Wait, did you say radiation exposure-"

"Scan complete. No indication of damage. Initiating computer link-up." There was a whirring sound. "No wireless connection to onboard AI detected. Initiating physical link-up." The tank did not appear to notice Tavi, Judy, and Nick approaching from behind it. "No link port detected." A mechanical arm appeared from a port on the side of the tank, lifted the vehicle by the front end. "Installing link port-"

"Wait!" shouted Tavi. "Stop!"

Shepherd froze, then swiveled a sensor at her. "Maintenance operation paused. Abort, retry, fail?"

"Yes!"

The tank swiveled a second sensor at her. "Abort, retry, fail?"

"Abort!"

"Acknowledged."

"Now put down the vehicle. Slowly!" Tavi added quickly.

The tank gently lowered the car to the ground. "Recommend immediate maintenance on this vehicle," said Shepherd blandly to the gazelle.

Tavi gave a sheepish grin to the stunned gazelle driver. "Sorry about that."

"What- what- what just happened?" said the gazelle, staring after the tank.

Nick and Judy exchanged looks. "This is all a dream?" said Nick hopefully.

Tavi glared at him.

"Test of an, uh, autonomous repair and inspection unit," said Judy rapidly. "Sorry about the hassle, sir. Still getting the bugs worked out."

The gazelle frowned at them. "Didn't it say radiation exposure-"

"Within allowable limits," said Tavi.

"Nope, you must have heard wrong," said Nick. "Don't be silly."

"But-"

"Don't block traffic, sir. Light's green," said Nick. "Move along. Nothing to see here."

Slowly, traffic started to move, though most drivers kept one cautious eye on the tank as they moved through the intersection.

The three cops walked towards the tank, which was hovering low to the ground outside a small coffee shop. Tavi walked up to it. "Shepherd, what was that all about?"

"Operation of sub-routine Gamma Green Alpha Four Two. Maintenance of friendly vehicles, sub-type-"

"What?" interrupted Tavi. "I've never seen you do this before."

There was a long pause. "Is this unit's performance satisfactory, commander?"

All three mammals exchanged surprised looks. "What do you mean?" asked Judy carefully.

The tank settled to the ground with a thump. "Standard sub-routines including the range of Alpha through Gamma Green Alpha Four Two have now been either directly countermanded or precluded by standing orders," said Shepherd. "This unit is attempting to determine what standard sub-routine is required for satisfactory performance."

"You're not allowed to be a typical tank, so you're running through all your tricks to try and see what you're supposed to be doing," said Tavi thoughtfully. Nick and Judy looked at her, surprised. She noticed their gaze. "I've been spending a lot of time with Shepherd," she explained. "I'm starting to understand how he thinks."

"It almost doesn't sound like he does think," said Judy. "It sounds like he has set programs he follows."

"It," muttered Nick. They both looked at him. "It's a tank, a thing. It's not a 'he'."

"Seems rude," said Tavi disapprovingly.

Nick threw up his paws in exasperation. "You can't be rude to a- never mind, I'm going to wait for Tailwhisker inside." He walked inside.

Tavi considered the tank, tapping a claw against her chin. "You know, he does think. He's able to modify certain sub-routines on the fly." She looked at Judy. "He's not just a thing."

The rabbit glanced at her, looked at the tank, which appeared quiescent. "Maybe. But whatever he- or it- is, it was built by the humans. Don't play around with it, Tavi. It's dangerous."

She frowned. "That doesn't make it bad."

Judy eyed her, then noticed a patrol car pulling up. Captain Tailwhisker stepped out, frowning at the two officers. "Looks like the captain is here. Time to see what she wants." She started to walk to meet the higher-ranking officer, then paused and looked over her shoulder. "Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble." She hurried to collect Nick from the coffee shop.

Tavi sighed. "Trouble. Right." She raised her voice. "Shepherd?"

The tank raised a sensor. "Commander?"

"Do you have any non-violent sub-routines for areas with large friendly civilian populations?"

There was a long pause. "Accessing. Sub-routine Epsilon Magenta series. Includes parade, guard duty, urban riot pacification-"

"Guard duty," said Tavi hastily.

"State the location to be guarded," said the tank.

"Here."

The tank swiveled to look at the shop. "Orders are to guard a local caffeinated hot beverage vendor," said the tank doubtfully. "This is a vital strategic location?"

"Yes," replied Tavi, firmly. "Stay here. And don't hurt anyone!"

"Officer Tavi!" shouted Tailwhisker. "Let's go! We're on a schedule here!"

"Orders confirmed," said Shepherd.

"Good," said Tavi. She hurried off to speak with the captain.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tailwhisker studied the three officers over her cup of coffee.

Hopps was, despite her spectacular start in the department, a known factor. Young, idealistic- though that had taken some knocks recently- and eager, she was the sort of officer that would rise to the top, as long as she didn't burn herself out first. Based on what the captain had heard and seen of her, she suspected the rabbit would go far.

The fox was a bit harder to read. Tailwhisker was honest enough with herself to admit to some degree of prejudice- even among predators, foxes had a reputation for sneakiness- but even allowing for that, Wilde sometimes seemed just a bit too much on the cynical side. World-weariness, even some bitterness, was pretty much expected among veteran officers, but Wilde was still no veteran. However, he had seen some action and had acquitted himself quite well, even remarkably well.

Her eyes fell on the mongoose, who smiled nervously at the captain's unblinking stare. Tavi was a rookie, still, through and through. Like Hopps, still idealistic and energetic, but unlike the bunny officer, there was no way to be sure yet just how far that went. Sure, she had acted bravely, but whether she had the judgment and intelligence to perform the job- that remained to be seen.

Of course, as of right now, she also had a tank. Unless someone figured out how to transfer the robot's allegiance to someone more experienced, that gave her some added value.

"So," said Nick. "I'm guessing you didn't order us to meet you here just for the coffee."

In answer, Tailwhisker put a briefcase on the table and opened it. "Remember this mammal?" She tossed a photograph from the briefcase on the table.

They glanced at it. "Raymond the rhino," said Wilde, nodding. "One of the Chargers gang, agreed to work with us after they tried to have him killed."

"Exactly. I've been working with the Organized Crime Unit, and we're about to hit the Chargers and their associates. We've got enough evidence to put a fair number of them away."

Hopps picked up the photograph, studied it. "So where do we come in?"

"I want you to help with one of the raids." Tailwhisker pulled out another photo and tossed it to her.

She caught it. She had barely glanced at it before she looked up, her expression blank. "This is Mr. Big's mansion."

"Yeah. You know," said Tailwhisker, her voice neutral, "a great many cops wouldn't have recognized it."

"Captain-" began Wilde.

The captain held up a paw. "I'm not suggesting anything inappropriate was going on, Wilde. But the fact remains that you two have prior connections to the target. That's not something I'm happy with, but it's something I'm willing to use. Raymond Charger's statement has turned up enough corroborating evidence that we can get a search warrant for Big's place, but unless we find additional evidence there, we don't have enough to realistically charge him with anything. I want you two along to give me the benefit of your insight."

"What about me?" asked Tavi.

Tailwhisker turned her attention to the mongoose. "Mr. Big has a large number of polar bears at his disposal."

"Right," said Tavi.

"They probably won't resist, but we have to be prepared for anything. And an additional show of force will make resistance even less likely."

"Okay," said the mongoose, uncertainly. "I'm not sure what this has to do with me. I mean, I'm not all that intimidating."

Wilde elbowed her. "Tavi. You have a tank."

"Oh. Right!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Shepherd the tank scanned the area again. It counted thirty-three potential hostiles- it paused as it accessed standing orders again- apparent civilians in the immediate area, with several hundred within scanning distance. Most seemed willing to give the coffee shop a wide berth when they saw the tank hovering nearby. A few did not.

One such walked past, eyes on a cell-phone. Shepherd disapproved of the creature's total lack of situational awareness, but activated a subroutine according to his current role. "Greetings, citizen!" his speaker boomed.

The creature, which his targeting database tentatively designated as an aardvark, jumped at the sudden noise. "Who- what- who said that?" she stammered, looking around. Her eyes moved right over the tank without stopping.

Shepherd was used to that. The primitive society on this planet had apparently not yet developed artificial intelligence. "This unit is designated Shepherd," it said, introducing itself. That covered the greeting, introduction, and left only two more steps. "This area is currently restricted."

The aardvark stared at the tank wonderingly. "Are you- are you a robot?"

There was a pause as the tank considered. Eventually, it decided this question required a modification to step two of the guard sub-routine. "This unit is designated Shepherd," it repeated. "This unit is a King Cobra class light battle tank, currently under the command of Anila Tavi."

"Wow!" said the aardvark, putting her phone away. She moved closer, putting a paw on the tank's armor. "But are you genuinely intelligent, or is this just all programming?" she mused.

Step two seemed to have been taken care of. Shepherd initiated step three. "This area is under guard by this unit. Exit the area." A standing order then flagged itself, so Shepherd added, "Please."

"This must be human technology," said the aardvark. She prodded one of Shepherd's access ports with a finger. "What's this for?"

Step four- several standing orders immediately flagged themselves in his processing unit. Step four was use of force to remove civilians. Lethal force- precluded by standing order. Non-lethal force- only acceptable with permission. Step four therefore could not be completed. Shepherd paused, unsure how to proceed. "Please remove yourself from the area," said Shepherd, using a variant phrasing in hopes of convincing the sapient.

The aardvark ignored him, continuing to poke at the armored plating.

The tank ran through its options again, frustrated. Then it remembered something.

The idea was not consistent with any of its predetermined sub-routines. However, nothing else seemed to be allowable.

For the first time, Shepherd had an original idea.

"Sapient. If you wish to remain in this area, please be prepared for scanning."

The aardvark paused. "Scanning?"

"The procedure is perfectly safe," Shepherd assured her. "Radiation exposure is well within parameters."

"Radiation?" repeated the aardvark. She hastily backed away. "No, no, I think I'm fine."

"Scanning is necessary for your safety and mine," said Shepherd remorselessly, repeating a phrase he had heard from a ZPD officer. "Please stand still and-"

Before he could finish, the aardvark turned tail and fled down the street.

Satisfied, Shepherd settled back into position.

Interesting. The tank began to consider this new capability, this new concept. There seemed to be many more potential applications. Bluffing.

Lying.

 _A/N:_

 _I'm still chugging along. I've been having to re-write a great deal of what I've been writing, and I'm still working out some themes, motifs, and plot points. This will eventually speed up, though possibly not until the end of the summer. I appreciate your patience._


	4. Chapter 3- No Justice, No Peace

_Where there is no justice there can be no secure peace._

 _-Aung San Suu Kyi,_ In Quest of Democracy

Grimacing slightly, Hunter knocked at the door.

"Come in!" said a voice.

Hunter opened the door.

The office was much larger than most municipal offices he had seen, though he supposed that made sense for a psychologist. Wouldn't want the patients getting claustrophobic, after all. There was a desk with the back against the window- a very small desk. As he glanced around, his gaze fell on the only occupant of the room, a small squirrel-

"Squirrel!" he shouted and dove for cover behind the doorway, instinctively reaching for a gun that wasn't there.

After a moment, he sheepishly poked his head around the corner to see the squirrel he had spotted- dressed in comfortable-looking slacks and a conservatively-striped shirt- peering at him. "Are you all right, Mr. Hunter?"

Hunter smiled shakily. "Oh, yeah- it's just that I was attacked recently by a group of assassin squirrels, and so, um..." he trailed off. _Good way to start off your psych eval_ , he thought to himself.

"Assassin squirrels," repeated the psychologist thoughtfully. He wrote something on the notebook he held in front of him. "Well, I'm Dr. Hudson. Would you like to have a seat?"

Gingerly, Hunter walked in and sat down on the couch opposite the squirrel. "Pleased to meet you, doc. Zach Hunter." He glanced down at the couch. "Um, am I supposed to lay down or something?"

"Whatever you feel most comfortable doing. The 'psychoanalyst and patient on couch' thing is more for cartoons these days, you know."

"Too bad, I could have used a nap." Hunter chuckled nervously. "Sorry, doc, I've never really been to see a psychologist before."

Dr. Hudson tilted his head. "Really? I've been reading over your file from Alpha Centauri and you've been involved in, let's see...forty-five deadly force incidents in your career."

"About average," said Hunter with a shrug.

Hudson blinked. "You're joking."

"Um, no. It's been kinda weird, realizing you guys seem to think that one in a career is something major." Hunter leaned back, remembering how different things had seemed when he first came to Zootopia. "We've got a lot more violent crime in First Landing."

"So I gather," said Hudson. "Why is that?"

"Hell if I know," said Hunter with a shrug. "It's not true of every human planet, if that's what you're thinking. I know there's quite a few places, especially on the frontier worlds, where the crime rate is a lot lower. Though they have their own problems."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Constant raids by various alien species." He shrugged again. "Seems like the whole galaxy is out to get us."

"I see." Hudson made another note on his clipboard. "And I imagine that takes a toll on someone."

The human raised an eyebrow at him. "Makes me more violent, right? That's where you're going with this?"

"Mr. Hunter, please rest assured my primary concern is your health," said Hudson, a bit stiffly. "No one is, as you put it, 'out to get you'." He hesitated. "At least not here."

Hunter winced as he realized his reaction was precisely the defensiveness he should have avoided. "Listen, Hudson. I've been a cop for over twenty years. This is what I do."

"What you do," repeated Hudson. "Mr. Hunter, in addition to your career in Alpha Centauri, since you've been here on Zootopia you've been involved in multiple shootings, including two multiple fatality ones. You were coerced into murdering an innocent hostage. You were forced to try and persuade your friends to kill you." The squirrel leaned forward. "Mr. Hunter, this is not something you can deal with on your own. We need to know you're okay. It's always an option to take a break for a while."

"A break." Hunter felt a sardonic grin come over his face. "You know I have to make a living, right?"

"I think, under the circumstances, you could take a fair amount of leave." Hudson shook his head. "You saved a lot of lives, and no one is going to let you starve on the street. Maybe it would be best to just, well, take some time for yourself."

"You mean the department would give me paid leave for- for how long?"

"As long as you need, I suspect." Hudson watched him carefully.

It was tempting. It was no secret that Hunter was not a hard-working man. That he was, in fact, rather on the lazy side. All he had to do was tell this shrink that he needed the time. He could relax, work on his models, watch TV, catch up on his reading.

And let Prometheus, whoever he was, run rampant.

Prometheus was, at least indirectly, responsible for the deaths of his family.

He shook his head. "It's what I do," he repeated. "I'm a peace officer."

Hudson pointed at him. "That's what I'm talking about, Mr. Hunter. Peace. You've seen a lot of violence and more horrors than I can imagine in your life. Maybe it's time to try and find a measure of peace for yourself." Seeing Hunter hesitate, he added. "You deserve it."

"Deserve it?" said Hunter. He looked down at his hands. "You know what I've done, Doctor Hudson. You know that I killed an innocent mammal."

"You had no choice-"

Hunter's fist slammed down on the coffee table between them. "Yes, I did! I don't know what it was, but I could have found another way." He raised his eyes to meet Hudson's, and the squirrel flinched. "I am an officer of the law, a peace officer. I don't find peace, doc." He stood up.

"I make it for myself." With that, he turned towards the door. "We're done here."

"Mr. Hunter-"

"Pass me, fail me. I don't care. I'm a cop, dammit, and I've got work to do." He slammed the door behind him.

Hudson, left alone in the office, pursed his lips thoughtfully, then hopped off his chair and walked to his small desk. He picked up the phone and dialed.

"Mr. Mayor?" He turned to look out of the window onto the city below. "You asked me to call when I finished with my assessment of Zacharias Hunter.

"In my opinion, Mr. Hunter is not in any condition right now to act as a police officer in Zootopia- or anywhere else, for that matter. He's still extremely distraught and-"

He paused, listening as the voice on the other end of the line spoke. "Sir, at a minimum he's likely suffering from post-traumatic stress, and-"

The voice rose. "Mr. Mayor, I cannot in good conscience-"

Hudson cut off as the voice rose higher, and more volubly. After a moment, he sat down heavily at the desk. "Yes, sir, I understand. But- why is it so important that Hunter be put back on active duty- no, no, it's very clear, sir. No further questions." He blinked at the sound of the other phone being slammed down and set the phone back in the receiver carefully.

After a long moment, he reached for a form. "Zacharias Hunter is hereby approved for entry into the academy," he said under his breath as he wrote. He set down the pen. "And may I not regret it," he added, under his breath.

Jonathan Oakes sat stiffly, almost at attention, in his chair outside the small courtroom annex. Two of the other officers in the room- both of whom he outranked handily- kept up a low conversation amongst themselves. The third- highest ranking of all, a System Marshal- slouched disconsolately against the wall.

The walls were panelled in wood, gleaming with polish. The seats were remarkably comfortable, though lined with military precision against one wall of the rectangular annex room. There were only two exits to the room. One led to the courtroom itself. The other led to the hallway of the Alpha Centauri Military Justice building.

Both entrances were guarded by blank-faced Star Marines armed with assault rifles. The four men in the room were all prisoners awaiting court-martial.

The door to the court-room opened and the bailiff, a hard-faced sergeant, stepped through. "Marshal Glaucio Ortega," he announced. The System Marshal looked up, despair in his face, and stood. He hesitated long enough that one of the marines took a step forward. At that, he looked up and took a deep breath before following the sergeant into the courtroom.

The two officers who had been conversing watched him go. "Poor devil," said one. "It's the firing squad for him, no doubt."

The other nodded. "Wrapped up in that Terran business. XSO nonsense. Wouldn't catch me getting involved in that cloak and dagger bullshit."

Oakes heard them and his hands clenched the arms of his seat until they turned white, though the muscles of his face did not so much as twitch.

It was more or less standard operating procedure for an aspiring young officer. First, climb the ranks. From midshipman to commander was essentially guaranteed, so long as you checked the right boxes and kept your nose clean. It helped if you distinguished yourself a bit, of course. Oakes had ambushed two Karathis raiders in the Ophiuchi Expanse while a liuetenant in the old _Trident_. One small, underarmed patrol craft versus two top of the line destroyers. If he'd failed he'd have been called an idiot. He'd succeeded, so he was brilliant.

Once he made captain, the next step was Force Marshal, leading a flotilla rather than a single ship. To reach that rank, however, you had to either have influence or a really astonishing victory, though both were preferable. Not willing to wait for a chance at a major victory, Oakes had decided to seek out influence.

Politics was not his strong suit. He paid little attention to the doings of the Chamber, the elected body of the Human Stars. But he needed friends, and the Expansionist Party was always looking for handsome young war heroes to stand next to their candidates and smile benignly.

It was there he had met a party functionary- and a Contact Ministry Secretary- named Horne.

Horne was now serving a life sentence breaking icy rocks in the Delta Pavonis mines. His associates were swept up with the usual efficiency of the Security Directorate and now the trials were ending.

"Glad I'm only here for a false muster," said one of the chatty officers. "Slap on the wrist and I'll be free to go."

"Don't be so sure," warned his friend. "They're cracking down. Not saying you'll be dismissed from the service or anything, but you might be docked in pay. That Horne business- and the XSO op that went bad on Terra- has everyone screaming for heads."

Oakes had thought he couldn't have possibly tightened his grip any further, but those words did it.

The first officer waved such concerns aside. "I can afford it." His gaze focused on Oakes. "Hey, captain. What are you up for?"

Oakes glared at him. "Mind your own business, commander," he snarled.

The Fleet officer blinked. "Sorry, captain," he said emolliently, holding up his hands as if to ward off Oakes's anger. "Just trying to be friendly."

Before Oakes could speak again, the door opened again, and both the two young officers were called into the courtroom. Leaving Oakes alone with his thoughts, his fears, and his shattered career.

Until the other door, the one leading out to the main hallway, opened. Oakes, who had been scowling at his boots, snapped his eyes up.

A woman walked in. Short, but walking with a smooth, lithe gait that put him in mind of a panther. Her short sleeve shirt and black pants were loose, easy to move in, but did little to hide a curvaceous figure and toned muscles. She looked around the room, pushing her black hair away from her pale face, before her eyes fell on Oakes. She smiled slightly. "Captain Oakes?"

Oakes instinctively stood up. "Yes? Who are you?"

She pulled an identification card from her pants pocket and held it out negligently. "Ranger Amna Khabat."

A ranger. He sighed. "I've already been interviewed extensively by the Rangers. I have nothing more to add to my previous statements."

"No, I imagine not." She walked over to the door leading to the courtroom and looked it over before turning her gaze back to him. "Which is why I'm not here to listen to another statement from you. Rather, I would like you to listen to me."

He frowned. "Why?"

"Have a seat, Captain." She herself sat down, sinking appreciatively into a chair. "At least the seating is comfortable. Tell me, captain, do you know what awaits you behind that door?" She nodded to the courtroom door.

"I am certain that Fleet justice will be fair and equitable," he said stiffly.

"Are you really? What optimists the Fleet Academy turns out." She crossed her legs and studied him intently. "This Terran mess is ending a lot of careers, you know."

"I did nothing wrong. I met with Mr. Horne a few times, and the only thing we discussed was my assistance with the EP's political campaigns."

"Of course. But the EP apparently managed to suborn an entire Ministry- the Ministry of First Contacts, in fact- and essentially ruined relations with the Terrans." She tilted her head. "Do you know what the average citizen thinks of Terra?"

"I doubt they think of it much at all," said Oakes. "There are far more important matters-"

She chuckled. "As if importance had anything to do with popular concerns. An entire planet of fluffy, adorable talking animals, Oakes. People are enthralled. And our government goes and screws it all up."

For a long moment, Oakes gaped. "The people actually care what a bunch of- what the Terrans think of us? Don't they know the Drex have been stepping up raids? That the Larrats have issued another one of their inexplicable 'challenges'? Not to mention the on-going war with the Karathi."

"Most of which rarely have an impact on the average Centaurian," she pointed out. "The last major raid was twenty years ago. People have short memories."

Oakes turned that over in his mind. He'd been in the military since high school, and before that he'd been in the career military track of school anyway. "I suppose I've never really thought about how civilians think," he said, finally. He studied Khabat closely. "What is this all about?"

"Lots of careers ending over this fiasco," she repeated. "Lots of careers- and more than just careers. You know they've already shot fourteen functionaries at the Ministry? That's rare- generally even the most crooked politician can at least count on some help from his friends to avoid the worst."

"Again, what does that-" Oakes suddenly stopped, the blood draining from his face. "I've done nothing wrong," he protested.

"Tell that to Marshal Ortega," she said. "All he did was transport the XSO team to Triton, in the Sol system. Following orders like a good soldier." She glanced at her watch. "Though if you do want to tell him, you'd better hurry. The firing squad should be lining up right about now."

The Fleet captain swallowed. "So, what, are you here to gloat?" he said, forcing his voice to remain steady. It wasn't so much the thought of death that bothered him- it was the shame of it. To be shot down by his own side-

"There's one name that keeps coming up in the investigation," said Khabat. "One name that, so far, we haven't been able to connect to anyone directly."

"Prometheus," said Oakes, without thinking.

Khabat's gaze, which had been idly scanning the room, suddenly snapped to him. "How do you know that name?" she demanded.

Taken aback at her sudden interest, he shook his head in denial- denial of what, he didn't know. "I was asked about it during the interrogation, that's all." He looked away. "I hadn't heard it before then. It stuck with me because, well, it's an odd name."

"Not so odd, actually. Prometheus took fire from the gods."

"The what now?"

She clucked her tongue impatiently. "In mythology, captain. Ancient Terran mythology, in fact. The story survived across the light years when humans expanded their domain. Stole fire from the gods, hiding it in a reed. For doing so, he was punished by the gods, chained to a mountain where every day an eagle would eat his liver, and overnight he would regenerate again."

Oakes winced. "Ouch."

"It must be a code name," said Khabat. She suddenly leaned forward and fixed an intense gaze on Oakes. "And whoever he is, he managed to suborn one of the largest political parties in the Human Stars, and through it our government."

"Okay," said Oakes slowly, a bit unnerved. "So why come to me?"

"We need someone who will be working for us. Someone who, to be quite honest, we will have leverage over." Her eyes remained on his. "Someone who will know better than to ask questions."

"Someone to command a ship," said Oakes wryly. "I assume that's where this is going?"

She smiled. "Glad to see you're smart enough to pick up on a hint if it's dropped on you from a great enough height."

"So I'd be, what, working for the Security Directorate?"

She shook her head. "You'd still be Fleet."

He frowned. "You're asking me to work behind my superiors' back. To be your man in the Fleet."

"That's right."

Oakes's frown deepened and he stood up. "Do you really expect me to be your spy, ranger? I've dedicated my life to the Fleet."

She stood as well. "You know what will happen if you refuse?"

"The same thing that will happen if you hadn't shown up at all," he said.

Khabat studied him for a long moment. "When I leave," she said softly, "the bailiff will be calling your name. You have a choice, then. You can walk through that door-" she pointed to the door leading to the courtroom, "-and you will be tried, convicted, blindfolded, and then shot down like a dog in the square behind the Alephus Military Prison. Another sacrifice to save the careers of a bunch of politicians frightened of losing a few votes." She pointed to the other door.

"Or, you can leave by that door. And I'll give you a chance to find out who those corrupt officials are. Who Prometheus is. And what you can do to stop him."

With that, she walked out.

Oakes stared after her. He looked down at his Academy ring, rubbed it with his hand.

A few minutes later, the courtroom door opened. "Captain Jonathan Oakes," said the sergeant, then blinked as he realized the room was empty.

 _Author's Note: So I know it has been a really long time, and I apologize. Suffice to say things have been hectic of late, including a no-shit real-live hurricane. I'm finally starting to settle back into a normal routine, though, and getting back to writing. This chapter was a bit dry, I know- I'm hoping to get back to more humor as soon as possible. There's going to be a lot of serious parts in here, of course, but I intend to lighten the mood where possible._

 _Expect this to go a bit slow, then pick up steam as I get back into the groove. I mean, hopefully._

 _Sorry again for the long wait. Hopefully this will end up being worth it._


	5. Chapter 4- Knock or No-Knock?

"So Hunter is scheduled to start the police academy today," said Nick conversationally.

He, Judy, Tavi, and a platypus sergeant named Fleay all sat in the back of a police van. Judy periodically peered through the heavily tinted windows, watching the neighborhood. The van was parked in in the street a few blocks from Mr. Big's mansion, the plumbing company insignia on the side hopefully making its presence unremarkable.

The weather was starting to grow even colder than usual. It was coming up on winter, for what that was worth in the heavily climate-controlled city of Zootopia.

She turned from her latest scan of their surroundings to glance at Nick. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Is Major Friedkin still the lead instructor?" Nick asked Tavi.

The mongoose was, in contrast to her usual nervous excitement, slouched against one corner of the van. She glanced up listlessly. "What?"

"At the academy. Major Friedkin still work there?" Tavi blinked at him and he suppressed a sigh. "The polar bear."

"Oh, right. Um, yes, she was when I was there." She settled back, still staring at the opposite wall of the van.

Nick and Judy traded looks. "Hey, Tavi. What's going on with you?"

"I'm fine," she said automatically.

"No, you're not," said Judy. "You were fine earlier today. But not long after we got stuck in this van you've done nothing but stare at the walls and sigh mournfully."

"The only way you could make it clearer that you're feeling down is by hanging a sign around your neck saying 'OH WOE IS ME'," added Nick. Judy gave him an annoyed glance.

Tavi, however, gave a slight smile. "I couldn't find any signboard or markers."

Returning a triumphant look to Judy, Nick sat down next to her. "Is this about Hunter?"

She shrugged. "Kind of. I mean, I'm used to him being here with us in situations like this, cracking jokes, or at least snoring so loud the van shakes."

"I could try and fill in for him," offered Nick. "Let's see." He cleared his throat and, roughening his voice in imitation of Hunter's bass, growled, "Cheer up, rookie. Bad enough I'm working on a Saturday, packed into a van with mongoosen and platypusen, without you moping around."

Judy grinned. "Rule Twenty three point six," she said, her own voice deepening. "Violence never hurt anyone."

Tavi was laughing, but she managed to speak in a voice all of an octave lower than her usual high-pitched tones. "In my day, rookie, we weren't issued cuffs," she said. "I once hauled three murderers to jail only using a box of toothpicks, an old trash can, and a bucket of coleslaw. Uphill both ways, through the snow!"

All three started laughing, until Sergeant Fleay- who was in the seat directly behind the empty driver's seat, twisted around to look at them. "Will you three keep it down?" he snapped. "I'm trying to sleep."

They all looked at each other. "He wins," said Nick. "That was the best Hunter imitation so far."

Fleay rolled his eyes and tried to ignore them as they started laughing again.

Hunter stepped out of the cab- he had to meet the bus to the academy and didn't want to leave his car parked away from his home- and handed the sheep driving it two twenty dollar bills.

"What, no tip?" asked the sheep. "Typical skinflint human, huh?"

"You spent the whole trip jawing off about humans being sneaky, conniving, greedy interlopers out to corrupt your precious bodily fluids," said Hunter levelly. "I'd never thought of myself that way before, but you've convinced me to give it a try."

"Why do you keep ending up in my cab, anyway?" asked the cabbie. "This is some sort of human plot, isn't it?"

"If so, I'm not getting paid enough to participate," said Hunter. "You want the money?"

"It's probably blood money, earned from the back-breaking labor of the working class," said the sheep snootily.

Hunter shrugged and started to turn away.

"Hey, where you going? You haven't paid me yet!"

He turned back. "I thought it was blood money."

"It better be forty dollars, or I'll call the cops on you," said the cabbie as he snatched the cash from Hunter's hand.

"It's two twenties. Try not to explode your brain counting it to make sure it's all there." With that, Hunter picked up his bag- containing the few necessary items that would not be provided by the academy and walked toward a group of nervous-looking mammals clustered together near the front of the bus platform. "You the cadets?"

They all turned to look at him. "Hey," said an antelope. "You're a human."

Hunter sighed. "You know, mammals really need to stop saying that when they see me. I'm running out of good lines for it."

"Not just any human," murmured a warthog, near the back of the group. "That's Hunter."

The whole group took a step back. "Wow," said the antelope, her eyes widening. "I thought for sure you'd be fired!"

"Are you kidding?" said the warthog. "He's a hero!"

"What are you doing here?" demanded a rhino. Hunter eyed him. He seemed vaguely familiar somehow-

"I'm going through the police academy, just like you guys," said Hunter. "What's your name, junior?"

The rhino straightened proudly. "Seamus McHorn. My uncle is ZPD."

"Is he?" said Hunter, with a sinking feeling. "I don't suppose he's mentioned me-"

"Oh, he's mentioned you," said Cadet McHorn. "Lots of times. Usually very loudly."

"I'm going to pretend that's meant to imply vociferous approval," said Hunter.

"It's really not-"

"So what about you?" Hunter said quickly, pointing to the antelope that had spoken first.

"Cadet Trisha Eland, sir!" she said, snapping to attention.

Hunter grimaced. "I'm a cadet, just like you. You don't call me sir. Also, I work for a living." He paused. "At least, if I can't avoid it."

The warthog pushed forward eagerly. "Mr. Hunter? I'm Jason Tibbs. It's an honor to meet you!" Hunter gingerly shook the paw the warthog extended. "I've read all about you! Did you really crash a tank through a building to make dynamic entry?"

Hunter blinked. "I thought that was classified."

"Yeah, but it wasn't too hard to put together," said Tibbs proudly. "I-"

He was cut off by a horn blowing as a large bus pulled up to the station. An annoyed-looking panther poked his head out. "Cadets? Come on, let's get loaded. We ain't got all day."

The cadets duly picked up their bags and filed onto the bus. Hunter followed, ignoring the curious glances he attracted- he was getting rather used to those.

Putting his bag into an overhead compartment, he found an empty seat and sat down.

It was all rather familiar. It had been a long, long time, but he found himself remembering the FLPD Academy. Despite the differences in species, the nervous chatter was the same, the trepidation in the faces- now that he had learned how to read mammalian expressions- was the same, even the way the other cadets seemed to avoid him was much the same.

Except for one cadet this time, however. The seat groaned as Tibbs settled in next to him. "I hope you don't mind if I sit here," said Tibbs anxiously. "It's just that- well, I've followed everything about the humans since they first came to Terra. I have so many questions!"

"I was sort of hoping to get some sleep," began Hunter.

"So is it true that humans don't grow any hair other than on their heads? Don't you get cold? And what about-"

Hunter sighed.

"Suspect entering the residence now," said Tailwhisker over the van's radio.

Three of the four mammals in the van pricked up their ears, and even Fleay became more attentive. He grabbed the mike. "Acknowledged." The sergeant turned to the other three. "You ready?"

Judy gave him a thumbs-up. "Ready!"

"The captain wants us in right after the entry team," said Fleay, working his way into the driver's seat. "So look sharp."

The radio crackled again. "Suspect has entered the residence. Entry team, go! Beta team-" that was their designation, "-stand by."

Fleay started the van's engine.

The entry team was next on the air. "Two subjects detained in front, male polar bears. Preparing for entry." In the background, there was a crash as the entry team presumably rammed the front door. "We've made entry."

"No kidding," said Nick dryly. "I wonder if they even bothered to see if it was locked first."

"Lay off them," said Fleay, his voice equally dry. "They don't get to play with the battering ram too terribly often."

"Beta team, you are clear to approach," said Tailwhisker crisply. "Stay safe."

Fleay acknowledged and put the van in drive.

In moments, they had reached the mansion's front drive. Two SWAT vans were parked outside, with a couple of uniformed officers standing guard over two disgruntled-looking polar bears. One of the guards recognized Judy and Nick as they dismounted from the van. "You! I thought you were friend of family!"

Judy frowned. "That was before you sent assassin squirrels after my family."

The polar bear blinked. "Assassin- squirrels?" He peered at her. "You are sure this was not dream?"

"No," snapped Judy.

Nick held up his paw. "I'm still not entirely sure."

Tavi spotted a familiar bulk, hovering silently around the corner. "Hey, Shepherd! Good job! You caught everyone outside without killing anyone!"

The polar bear blinked. "Say again, please?"

The tank hovered closer. "Commander, thanks are not required. Do you wish a situation report?"

"Sure, tell me what happened."

"The objective was defended by six apparent hostiles, including these two prisoners here," said the tank, the arm indicating the two cuffed polar bears. "The remainder are secured in the rear of the structure. Their patrol pattern indicated either extremely poor training or below-average intellectual capability."

"Hey," protested one of the guards. "Is not true! We were trained by secret service in old country!"

Ignoring him, the tank continued. "Three of the guards were confronted and successfully detained by allied units. Three attempted resistance and took shelter behind cover. I instructed them that I was authorized to use lethal force if needed and utilized some of the artistic statuary scattered around the premises to effect psychological warfare tactics."

Tavi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"It threw marble statues at us until we surrendered," supplied the polar bear.

"Oh." She paused. "You know you're not allowed to use lethal force. As in, ever."

"Yes, Commander. But they didn't."

Tavi looked at him suspiciously. Somehow, the tank managed to project an air of innocence.

Tailwhisker arrived and gave them a look. "Come on, officers. We've got a situation inside."

She rushed in, her tail flicking nervously, and the three younger cops followed at a run.

They ran down a hallway, ornate works of art lining the walls. Tailwhisker slowed, looking around. "Good grief, those look expensive. And they say crime doesn't pay. I'm pretty sure that one's an original Marmet."

"Seuchat, actually," said Nick airily. "He used a pointillist technique to express his view of how color could be used similarly to a musician using notes. A so-called language of art."

Everyone looked at him.

"Or so I heard," he mumbled. "Somewhere."

"Captain?" Officer Francine Pennington, in full SWAT gear- meaning about an acre of kevlar- appeared around the corner up ahead. "We've got a door up ahead we can't get through."

Led by the captain, they trotted around the corner. Nick and Judy immediately recognized the massive door leading to Mr. Big's office. "Hang on a sec," said Nick, looking at the elephant. "You couldn't break the door down?"

Francine looked down at him. "I tried it with the ram and everything," she said, holding up a paw-held battering ram that looked like a toy in her hands.

"Well, what the heck are we supposed to do?"

Judy frowned, then shrugging to herself, walked up to the door.

And knocked.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Tailwhisker rubbing her forehead with one paw. "Seriously, Hopps?"

Before she could go on, a pleasant voice from the other side of the door was heard. "Yes? Who is it?"

Nick and Judy exchanged looks. "It's Judy Hopps," said Judy. "ZPD."

"Ah, Ms. Hopps." The voice was unfamiliar. "Please, come in."

There was a click and the door unlocked. Carefully, with Francine's help, they shoved the heavy door aside.

Mr. Big sat behind his tiny desk, watching them with a blank expression. Beside him, standing, was a wallaby Judy, Nick, and Tavi had never seen before.

The wallaby stepped forward as they entered the room. "You are trespassing in a private residence."

Tailwhisker held out the search warrant with a flourish. "Or it would be, if we didn't have this." As the wallaby took it, she smiled nastily. "Read it and weep, Gale. That copy is yours."

Gale started reading the document, Big still impassive beside him. Tailwhisker turned to the junior officers. "This is Petro Gale," she explained. "Mr. Big's consigliere."

"Lawyer," said Gale absently. He looked up. "You're not serious."

Tailwhisker turned to glare down at him. "What?"

"The judge actually signed this based on the confession of a two-bit hoodlum and a bunch of self-proclaimed assassin-" he hesitated, "-squirrels." He shook his head and put the warrant copy into his briefcase. "I'll have this thrown out faster than it took the judge to sign it."

"Maybe you will and maybe you won't," said Tailwhisker. "But we're here now, and my officers are already searching the premises. You will cooperate."

"Of course," said Gale smoothly. "No one will get in your way. You won't find anything, of course." He smiled at Tailwhisker.

The captain smiled back.

Tavi leaned over to Nick. "The captain seems to get along well with this Gale mammal, huh?"

Nick and Judy both gave her incredulous looks. "That's what you're getting from this?" he asked, exasperated.

"They're smiling and he seems really cooperative." She glanced between them. "What?"

Judy sighed. "Learn to read between the lines, Tavi."

Tailwhisker finally transferred her gaze from Gale to Big. "And you. Do you have anything to add? Maybe something to help us with our investigation?"

Immediately, Gale spoke instead. "My client has decided to exercise his right to remain silent."

"Very wise. Why, just the other day I had a suspect in my back seat whom I really, really wished would exercise that right," said Tailwhisker.

"All mammals have the right," said Nick. "It's just most lack the ability."

The captain and Gale both scowled at him, annoyed at his interruption of their little stand-off. "It seems police mammals have much the same problem," said Gale.

"You have no idea," muttered Tailwhisker. One of the officers searching the residence came through the door. He hesitated. The captain turned to him. "Well?"

The cop shrugged. "Sorry, captain. Nothing so far."

"Make sure you take all the documents," said Tailwhisker. "The search warrants cover anything that might indicate monetary payments were made to the Chargers or this, er, assassin group.

"Yes, ma'am."

"You realize that my client has multiple business interests," protested Gale. "We need that paperwork to effectively run the various corporations, charitable organizations, and-" he smiled slightly, "-political efforts he is involved with."

"Then I hope you made copies," shot back Tailwhisker. She turned to Nick and Judy. "You two have any ideas."

"Well, as a matter of fact," said Nick, who had been waiting for this moment. He walked over to where he remembered the trapdoor being. "Would you care to explain this?" He reached down, trying to find the opening to the trapdoor.

They all watched him for a moment as he scrabbled around. "It's a carpet," said Gale, bored. "I'd explain it, but I can think of no better word to describe it other than 'carpet'." He looked at Tailwhisker, whose ears were twitching with annoyance. "What is this?"

"No, it must be under the carpet," muttered Nick. "It's a trap door! It was right here!"

"A trap door," said Gale flatly. "Perhaps it's in a secret room behind a bookcase. Try pulling on candlesticks- I believe they are often disguised levers in whatever world you're in right now."

Nick stood up, glaring at the lawyer. "You knew we were coming! You had the trap door removed!"

Gale gave an exaggerated yawn and looked back at the captain. "If you're through wasting my time, I'll thank you to finish your search and leave. Rest assured the department will be responsible for any damages."

For a long moment, Tailwhisker met Gale's eyes, then nodded slowly. She looked at the shrew, who hadn't even twitched throughout the conversation. "You can't get away with it forever, Big."

"Forever is a long time," said Gale with a casual shrug. "Long enough is much shorter."

Turning to Nick, who stood quivering with anger and embarrassment, she pointed a finger at him, Judy, and Tavi. "You three stay here and keep an eye on them. I'm going to see how the search is going." With a last glance at Gale and Big, she left.

For a long time, the five mammals stood in the room.

Tavi cleared her throat. "Well, this is awkward. I don't think you two have met me. My name is Tavi."

Gale peered down his nose at her. "Ah, thank you, Ms. Tavi. I appreciate you introducing yourself."

She smiled. "I find it's always easier to get along if-"

"I'll need the name for the lawsuit I'll be filing after this is over."

She fell silent.

Behind them, somewhere in the house, they heard a crash, followed by a series of other crashes. Everyone winced.

"I'm sure it was nothing valuable," said Judy.

"In this house," said Gale, "everything is valuable."

"Especially a brand-new carpet," muttered Nick.

Gale smiled coldly at him. "Perhaps you will be interested in visiting when we renovate again. Mr. Big is considering reverting it to the old style."

Nick pointed to his badge. "I'm a cop, now, Gale. You really want to declare war on ZPD?"

Judy blinked at that, then looked suddenly thoughtful.

"I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Enough!" shouted Judy.

They all stared at her. Even Mr. Big, who had been idly studying a far wall, looked at her with faint surprise.

The bunny stepped forward, pointed at Gale. "You would never go after a ZPD officer, would you? It's not 'good for business'."

"And it's illegal," said Gale with faux outrage. "We are a law-abiding-"

"Shut it," suggested Tavi. "When she gets like this you're better off just laying low."

Judy was pacing the room, thinking. "But you went after Hunter. Knowing he was not only still- technically- a ZPD officer, but a bit of a hero. Enough that he would be missed. All over a measly five hundred dollars."

Gale started to speak, but stopped as Judy stepped closer to him. "So why try to kill Hunter? Why not just let it go? Maybe punish the Chargers in some way for being such idiots?"

Nick started nodding. "Someone else wants him dead," said Nick. "Who?"

"I think we know who," said Judy slowly. She turned to look at Big, who was watching her very carefully.

"Prometheus."

The silence was only broken by a distant clatter, followed by loud swearing.

Finally, the consigliere cleared his throat. "I'm not certain what that little outburst was intended to accomplish, but neither my client nor myself has any knowledge-"

"Well done, Judy," said Mr. Big. Gale looked at him, alarmed.

"Sir, I must insist that-"

"Be quiet, Petro." The shrew walked to the edge of the desk to look Judy in the eye. "Do you know who Prometheus is?"

Behind her, Nick and Tavi stepped forward, their ears pricked upwards. Judy shook her head. "No. Who is he?"

Mr. Big sighed. "Pity. I was hoping you could tell me."

 _Author's Note: So things are moving along. I should point out the "had the right, lacked the ability joke" is rather shamelessly stolen from Ron White's stand-up routine. I try very hard not to use jokes except as a deliberate shout-out or homage, but I couldn't think of a better way to put that particular line. Check out Ron White if you like stand-up of the "humorous anecdote" variety- he's pretty good._


	6. Chapter 5-Starting Over

Chapter 5- Starting Over

"I wanna be your drill instructor

I wanna shave off all my hair

I wanna be your drill instructor

I wanna wear that Smokey Bear!"

-Common military jody

The bus ground to a stop outside the front of the police academy, a boxy building with remarkably pleasant landscaping. In the distance, the obstacle course Judy had warned Hunter about was visible. He squinted at it as he picked up his bag. Didn't seem all that formidable, he decided.

He followed the other cadets, who were talking excitedly, out of the bus, where a polar bear and two spotted large cats- jaguars, perhaps- were standing at parade rest. Naturally, he held back slightly, bringing up the rear of the line of cadets.

The polar bear looked over the group with a disapproving gaze. It may have been his imagination, but it seemed her eyes lingered on his face, which was well in the back, for a fraction longer than the others.

"Listen up, cadets!" Friedkin shouted. Most of the young mammals flinched slightly at the sudden noise. "Welcome to the Zootopia Police Academy. My name is Major Friedkin. You will refer to me as Major or ma'am. My two colleagues here are Sergeant Ajuagar and Officer Furrington. You will likewise refer to them only by their ranks or as sir."

She began pacing along the line of cadets. "Zootopia is not the largest city, but has the most diverse population of anywhere on Terra this side of the Council of Terra. It presents an interesting policing challenge. I like challenges. Do you?"

There was a muttering from the cadets that seemed to indicate that, by and large, and taking one thing with another, there was a generalized consensus that an interesting challenge was probably just swell.

Sergeant Ajuagar stepped up. "The major asked you a question, cadets! Do you like a challenge?"

The cadets stood up straighter. "Yes, sir!" Hunter unenthusiastically shouted along with them, feeling bored with it all.

Friedkin shook her head. "I can't hear you!"

"Yes, major!"

"Pitiful," said Friedkin disgustedly. "We've got the whole day planned out for you, cadets, so double-time it into that building over there- it's the cafeteria." She watched them start shuffling towards the building. "Double-time means run, cadets! Move!"

Hunter hefted his bag and started to trot along with the other cadets, only to suddenly find a white-furred arm blocking his way. He looked up into Friedkin's face. "Yes, major?"

"You have a problem, Hunter."

He frowned. "I do?"

She nodded. "You don't like authority."

"Um, up until quite recently, major, I _was_ authority."

"And now you're not. You're a cadet." She poked him in the chest sharply enough to make him reel back slightly. "And I expect you act like it. Which means you don't do just enough, you do the best you can do."

He snapped to attention and saluted smartly. "Yes, ma'am!"

Friedkin growled slightly. "Do not sarcastically salute me, Hunter."

"Oh, no, that wasn't my sarcastic salute, major. _This_ is my sarcastic salute." He saluted again, in precisely the same way. "It's a subtle difference, but it's there. All in the wrist-"

He blinked as Friedkin's muzzle moved to with a few inches of his eyeballs. Which meant that he was mostly looking at a whole bunch of very large, very sharp, very white teeth. "Ten-hut!"

Without thinking, he snapped to attention. Friedkin, her paws behind her back, began pacing around him.

"Cadet Hunter, you are not going to be given one iota of special treatment or special privileges based on your prior service. You will be attentive to orders, enthusiastic, and- most difficult for you- serious, is that clear?"

He started to turn to look at her. "Ten-hut!" she shouted, and he snapped his head to face front again. "That does not require you to drop the position of attention, cadet! I only require a verbal response. Now, is that clear?"

"Yes, major," said Hunter, exasperated.

Once again, polar bear teeth filled his field of vision. "I cannot hear you, cadet!"

"Yes, major!" he shouted.

"You will be motivated, Cadet Hunter! You will be dedicated! What will you be?"

"Motivated, major!"

"Good!" said Friedkin approvingly. "And?"

"Dedicated, major!"

"Outstanding! So once again, what will you be?"

"Motivated! Dedicated! Constipated!"

"Excellent- what?"

Hunter maintained his rigid stance. "Dilapidated! Inundated! Cremated! Uh...consumnated?"

Friedkin's face, under her fur, flushed red. "That's it, cadet! Give me twenty!"

Without otherwise changing from the position of attention, Hunter sharply pulled out his wallet. "Do you have change for a hundred, major? Because I-"

"Push-ups, Hunter! And make it forty!"

"Yes, major!" He dropped down to the ground, pushed himself up. "One!"

There was a long pause. "Hunter," growled Friedkin.

"Give me a sec, I'm old." He lowered himself, came up again. "Two." He dropped down to the ground again. "Two and a half." He half raised himself. "Two and three-quarters..."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The rest of the cadets, with the other two instructors having gone to retrieve paperwork, watched through the window of the cafeteria as Friedkin started screaming at the human again.

"I think Cadet Hunter is going to have a long three months," said McHorn smugly.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So you know something about Prometheus?" asked Judy.

The three of them were now seated around Mr. Big's desk. The shrew had sat down himself, with only Gale standing somewhat protectively near his employer. The consigliere's occasional disapproving glances in the shrew's direction did not seem to bother Mr. Big at all. He was clearly not happy about his client speaking to any police in any way.

"It all started right after that business with the human Horne," said Big. "We knew about the gun shipments coming in, and as Nick correctly guessed the last time you graced my home with your presence, I did not like the competition. As a law-abiding business-mammal, of course."

"Of course," echoed Judy and Nick. Nick elbowed Tavi, who blinked.

"Um, yes. Of course," she said uncertainly. She leaned over to Nick. "I thought you said he was a crime boss?" she whispered.

Nick sighed.

Mr. Big continued. "So I began looking into the organizations that were bringing in guns. As it turned out, though, there was really just one- the distribution looked more spread out because this organization always kept to the shadows. They brought in the guns, but they never did anything else."

"That's a bit unusual, isn't it?" asked Judy. "Most criminal organizations tend to branch out a bit, sort of diversify."

"Yes," said Big smoothly. "While I have no direct knowledge of this myself, I believe it to be the case. I have only seen a similar situation a few times in my business career. Almost always, it is because the organization is either very small- or they have a very specific goal."

"Goal?" said Tavi. "Like what?"

The shrew spread his paws. "I wish I knew. The guns were always provided with a- Gale, what is the term?"

"Quid pro quo," said the wallaby. He looked at Nick. "It means something for something else."

"I knew that," snapped Nick. "I'm not an idiot."

"Sorry, that's just me judging by appearances again."

Nick looked at Big. "You going to just let him stand here and insult me like that?"

Big narrowed his eyes at Nick. "Skunk. Butt."

Swallowing, Nick leaned back in his chair. "My mistake. Insult away."

"As I was saying," Big said, "the guns came with two price tags. One in money, and one in favors. Very specific favors." He looked at Judy. "For example, an old office building which could be rented without too many questions asked."

Judy and Nick exchanged looks. "The Raid," she whispered. She looked back at the crime boss. "That warehouse?"

He nodded grimly. "You remember Lucky the tiger? He also got a gun, with instructions to pay for it by bringing a mammal no one would miss to another location. There, he met with other mammals, who had instructions to bring the mammal to the office building. You see?"

"Cut-outs," said Nick.

"What?" asked Tavi.

"Cut-outs. You don't do the dirty work yourself- ideally, you don't even let the mammal doing the dirty work know who he's doing it for," explained Nick. "That way, if we catch one, they don't know who's calling the shots."

"Or if someone else catches one," said Big, casually inspecting his claws. "Such as another organization besides the police interested in stopping the gun trade."

"Stopping the competition," muttered Judy. Big didn't respond directly, but gave a slow nod.

"So where did you hear the name Prometheus?" Judy asked.

Mr. Big looked up at the ceiling. "You must understand that this is all hypothetical."

"Meaning my client is not admitting to anything," said Gale. He looked at his boss. "In fact, I would strongly suggest that-"

Big held up his paw, forestalling him. "This is too important. We shall just have to trust that Judy, Nick, and their little mongoose friend here will understand there are far more dangerous enemies than one old shrew to deal with."

"Are there?" said Nick. "Oh, good. I'd only get bored with one evil criminal organization to deal with."

Gale sniffed. "The term 'evil' is not legally recognized terminology."

"You know, that statement explains an awful lot about lawyers. And I notice you didn't quibble with 'criminal.'"

Big gave him a cool look. "Hypothetically, suppose one of the actual arms dealers- the mammals behind the mask, so to speak- was captured by one of their competitors. And let us say that this particular mammal turned out to be a human."

"A human." Judy's eyes were wide. "You kidnapped a-"

"My client certainly did nothing of the sort," interjected Gale. "And if you continue to make such wild accusations, then this interview is over."

Judy held up her paw apologetically. "Of course, Mr. Gale. I mean, this hypothetical organization hypothetically captured a presumably hypothetical human."

"Precisely."

"You mean hypothetically precisely," said Nick.

"Okay," said Tavi in annoyance. "Can we stop with the hypothetically already?"

"Well, hypothetically we could-"

Tavi looked at Big. "I'm starting to see why you don't like him."

"Human captured," said Judy in exasperation. "What happened next?"

"He was, well, quite resistant. It seems humans are fairly well-versed in resisting, shall we say, harsh interrogations?"

"Okay," said Nick. "Harsh interrogations."

"Nick, shut up," Judy suggested.

"Sorry, I get nervous when we're calmly discussing torture."

"He talked eventually, or so I heard. Said a number of things. That humanity was the superior species. That humanity was the chosen protector of the galaxy. That we mere mammals should be pleased to serve them." Big's voice was grim. "That he learned this from his leader. The one he called Prometheus."

Judy broke the ensuing silence first. "What happened to him?"

"It seems that being the superior species does not confer the ability to breathe underwater," said Big composedly. "Or to resist freezing temperatures."

The three cops' eyes were drawn to the area of carpet which had once covered Big's trap-door.

"Wait a minute," said Tavi after a moment. "So Prometheus didn't try and get you to kill Hunter?"

Big sighed. "I don't think your colleague truly understands how this works."

The mongoose rolled her eyes. "So who wants Hunter dead, do you think?"

"Not this Prometheus, whether that is a mammal or an organization. Indeed, the human who was questioned said there were strict orders to leave 'Saint Zacharias' alone."

Nick and Judy snapped bolt upright. "Saint Zacharias?"

"The human appeared to be speaking sarcastically. I don't understand the joke."

Nick and Judy exchanged looks. "I think I do."

"But if Prometheus didn't want him killed-" Tavi suddenly frowned, and she stared at Mr. Big. "What, you decided if Prometheus wanted him alive, then you wanted him dead? Without even knowing why?"

"My client is admitting nothing-"

Gale was cut off by Tavi leaping clear from her seat to the desk, coming face to face with Big. The shrew blinked, but otherwise showed no sign of alarm as the mongoose came nearly nose-to-nose with him. "That ends now," she snarled. "If so much as one hair on his head is harmed, I'll-"

"Are you threatening my client, officer?" said Gale, moving to Big's side. "I must warn you-"

Without looking at him, Tavi grabbed his tie and yanked, cutting him off in mid-word.

Nick jumped to his feet nervously. "Whoa, slow down, Tavi-"

"Mr. Big, do you really want to make an enemy of the ZPD? I mean a real enemy?" She bit off each word. "Then ignore what I am saying. Remember, I've got a sticker on my car's bumper that says 'My other car is a tank'." Beside her, Gale was clawing at her paw holding his tie, struggling to breathe.

The shrew just stared at her, almost curiously, then he smiled slightly. "Perhaps you are right, Ms. Tavi. I did not know why Prometheus wanted him alive. So, likewise, I do not know why I would want him dead." He shrugged. "Barring further developments, Mr. Hunter will be in no danger from me or mine. So long as he does not give me an excuse, such as, say, harassing one of my colleagues."

Tavi let go of the wallaby's tie and straightened, smiling sweetly. Gale gasped for breath. "Good to hear. I think you and I will get along just fine."

Gale glared daggers at her, wheezing for breath. "I'll sue the-"

Mr. Big put a paw on his arm. "Petro. We are speaking somewhat freely because there are no cameras or recording devices. Deniability works both ways."

The lawyer gave the shrew a sour look. "Of course."

As Tavi jumped down, Nick and Judy stared at her, open-mouthed. She looked at them. "What?"

Before anyone could say anything further, Captain Tailwhisker came in, her tail lashing in frustration. "It seems there was nothing in your home particularly incriminating," she said without preamble.

"Not surprising," said Gale smugly. "As my client is not a criminal."

Tailwhisker pointed at him. "Shut up." She looked at Big. "Still not talking, eh?"

The shrew gave an almost imperceptible shrug.

"Whatever. We still have those seized documents to go through." With that she turned and left, muttering under her breath.

"She's right, you know," said Judy. "Sooner or later, all of this will catch up to you. I think you're really a kind shrew, at heart. Maybe it's time to really become a 'legitimate businessmammal'."

Mr. Big nodded slightly. "I am pleased to hear you say that, Judy. You are still, in many ways, family to me."

They turned to go, but stopped when he spoke again.

The shrew's voice was low, almost wistful. "You are a good mammal, Judy Hopps. And perhaps you are too quick to see goodness in others. You would perhaps not think so well of me, if you heard how the human screamed when he fell into the freezing waters below."

Judy shivered as she looked at Mr. Big. He looked at Tavi. "Hypothetically, of course," he added.

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Nick snuck a look at Judy as they walked back into the station. Her face was still carefully blank, a stark contrast to the smiling openness he was accustomed to from the irrepressibly cheerful bunny. "You knew what he does," said Nick quietly. "He nearly did it to us."

"I know. But it always seemed a bit unreal- as if maybe it was just a joke or something," she said, just as quietly. "Right now, I can't get the image of someone- a human- being dropped to their death after a 'harsh interrogation'."

"I can't get the image of Tavi strangling the lawyer with his own tie out of my mind," said Nick. "Try thinking of that. It's a much happier image."

Judy smiled slightly. "You know she shouldn't have done that."

"She gets a bit protective about Hunter."

"Yeah." Judy looked around. "Where'd she go, anyway?"

"Where do you think?" He gave Judy a knowing look. "She went to call Hunter at the academy. You know, we were all joking, but I'm actually thinking that maybe-"

"He thinks of us more like we're his kids- at least, that's what Tavi said."

"Yeah, and that's still really weird to me. I think of him more as that nutty uncle who rants about government conspiracies all the time." He blinked. "Although, maybe you didn't have an uncle like that-"

"No, no, I had five like that."

"Oh, right. Big family."

As they walked through the station, Nick congratulating himself for diverting Judy's thoughts, she frowned thoughtfully. "Saint Zacharias."

Apparently he hadn't completely succeeded. "Yeah."

"I've only ever heard one mammal refer to Hunter that way."

Nick nodded. "The Church of the Fellowship of Terra."

"The human didn't believe in it, from what Mr. Big said," pointed out Judy. "But he still must have been in contact with them."

"It makes sense, too. If this is a human conspiracy, who better to be the conspirators on Terra than a group that thinks humans are gods?"

Judy sighed as they walked into the station's locker rooms. "I guess we've got our next lead, then."

"Yeah. Pity. I was hoping not to have to deal with those particular nutjobs again." As he spoke, Judy's phone beeped. Nick caught a glimpse, showing a text from Tavi. Judy read it, then smiled ruefully.

"Cheer up," said Judy. "It could be worse."

"Oh? How's that?" asked Nick as he opened his locker.

She held up the phone, showing him what Tavi had texted. "You could be Hunter right now."

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 _Author's Note:_

 _I do not suggest you try doing or saying anything Hunter does if you actually go through boot camp, a police academy, or anything similar. You will at minimum be smoked so hard you will actually burst into flame; more likely, you'll be brought up on (in the military) charges/fired (for police). It's Rule of Funny, plus Hunter is being kept in the police department due to political machinations. He doesn't know that, of course (though he might suspect at this point), so he's just being Hunter._

 _Expect more amusing "Hunter in the Academy" moments later on._

 _I'm not going to be putting quotes before every chapter, but I will if I have something particularly interesting or funny to put up._


	7. Chapter 6- Eyes to See, Ears to Hear

"Rise and shine, rise and shine!"

Hunter blearily opened his eyes, seemingly only moments since he closed them. "Buh?" he said, intelligently.

A fanged smile appeared in front of him, causing him to jerk backwards in surprise. "Rise and shine, Hunter! It's a new day! Time to learn how to be a cop."

"I already know how to be a cop," he grumbled. "It involves much more sleep than this."

Furrington poked him. "Up and at 'em, Hunter!" He turned and started rousting Tibbs out of his bunk.

Sighing, Hunter swung his feet out of the bunk and dropped to the floor. Around him, the other cadets were frantically putting on their clothes. He grabbed his sweats from the dresser next to the bunk and put them on. First thing in the morning was always PT. Friedkin had explained that it was a great way to get the blood flowing and prepare for the day ahead. Hunter had explained that he learned best after a good ten hours sleep. After the explanations had been concluded, Friedkin's way had prevailed, due less to Hunter being convinced she was right, and more because she outranked him, massively outweighed him, and had much sharper teeth than he did.

The cadets trotted outside, as Hunter finished lacing up his shoes, groaning as he felt something- presumably nothing important- pop in his back as he leaned over. Furrington, seeing him lagging behind, trotted over.

"Come on, Hunter, let's get moving!"

Furrington was a jaguar. Jaguars were definitely large for cats, but compared to humans- even considering that many Terran mammals were of a bit larger size than Hunter was used to- not particularly intimidating. Hunter, on the other hand, was all of six foot, heavily built (not to say fat) and in the worst possible mood. He turned a baleful gaze on Furrington.

The jaguar flinched slightly, but rallied. "Don't you look at me like that, cadet!"

"Like what?" asked Hunter curiously. "Like I'm considering how quickly it would take to strangle you, skin you, and turn your hide into a coat in this godawful cold weather?"

Furrington swallowed. "I actually hadn't gotten all that-"

"Are you getting it now?" Hunter bent back down and leisurely tied his shoelaces. "Because I can do it again if you didn't."

"That's one lap, Hunter," said the jaguar, his voice slightly higher in pitch than normal.

Fortunately, the instructors hadn't realized that humans had much greater endurance than most animals. One lap was hardly a punishment. Though to be fair, at Hunter's age it wasn't trivial either. "You bet, boss. Now give me a sec to tie these shoes." He looked up again at the jaguar, who gulped and stepped back at his expression. "I'm old and decrepit, remember?"

The instructor nodded nervously. "One minute," he said crisply, trying to regain some of his authority. "Or it'll be two laps." He turned and trotted out of the barracks, not quite fleeing.

Hunter sighed and followed.

The rest of the cadets glanced nervously at him as he headed towards them. Friedkin stood silently. She saw Hunter coming and growled. "Furrington, I told you to get his butt out here!"

"He's coming, Major!"

"Not fast enough!" She pointed at Hunter. "Move!"

Hunter was trying hard not to be intimidated by the polar bear, but his efforts in that direction had thus far been stymied by the fact that she was _a freaking polar bear_. He hurried up and fell into the formation. "Cadet Hunter, reporting as ordered!" he shouted.

"I didn't tell you to report, Hunter!"

"Oh, right. Cadet Hunter, _not_ reporting in acordance with orders not received!"

Friedkin narrowed her eyes at him. "That's one lap, Hunter."

"Respectfully, Major," said Hunter, snapping to attention, "Much as I regret informing you that you are misinformed, Major, I have to inform you of the information that Officer Furrington informed me that I was already to form up, and if I were missed in formation despite being formally informed to formate, this would result in the information being informed for me that I was to do one lap already."

For a long moment, Friedkin just stared at him. Then she turned back to the group. "Jumping jacks! Ready, go!"

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"So how do you get away with it?"

Hunter, who was currently eating some eggs and what he was pretending was ham, glanced over at Tibbs incuriously. "Get away with what?"

The warthog leaned closer. "Snowing the major like that."

"What? Oh, it's just a little trick you learn when you do police work for a while. You just make things difficult enough that it's not worth the trouble to discipline you, but not so deliberately difficult that it is worth the trouble to discipline you." He took a bite of his food and grimace. "Tell me again how you guys eat this stuff?"

"What, would you rather eat real meat?" asked McHorn, sitting down across from them. He stared at Hunter belligerently. "That's what you humans do, isn't it? Eat mammals?"

Hunter pointed at him with his fork. "Don't tempt me. I've never tried rhino before."

Eland, sitting a few seats away, made a moue of distaste. "That's a little creepy, Hunter. I don't think threatening to eat mammals is a good way to get along."

The human shrugged. "In all seriousness, humans don't generally eat sapient beings, the distant past notwithstanding. We're not the Karathi."

"The who?" asked Tibbs.

"The Karathi. Oh, right, you haven't met them. Count your blessings." Hunter shoveled another forkful of eggs into his mouth. "They're these lizard things. No, bug things. Lizard-bug things."

"And they eat sapients?" Tibbs looked ill.

"They eat anything. It's sort of their thing."

"Seems like humans should get along fine with them," said McHorn.

Hunter sighed. "Yeah, humans eat mammals. But not sapient mammals. The ones we eat are just animals."

"Yeah, but they're not that different from us," pointed out Eland. "I mean, how do you know they aren't sapient, or nearly so? I mean, we are."

"Oh, that's just silly," said Hunter dismissively. "Look, you guys eat bugs, right?"

"So are you right now," said another cadet, a wolf, pointing to Hunter's plate.

"Please don't remind me of that, I'm trying to eat here. So how do you know that bugs aren't sentient? Or if they might be in the future?" Hunter pointed to the meat on the wolf's plate. "For all you know, that bug's poor family is at home in the dunghill, crying out their eyes over their ma being eaten." He resumed his breakfast.

The wolf glanced down at his plate.

"No, because we'd know if we-" he paused. "I mean, we would, wouldn't we?"

"Ants have a pretty advanced social structure," said Eland thoughtfully. "How do you define intelligence, anyway?"

The other predator cadets all stopped eating and frowned at their plates.

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Friedkin stared at Ajuagar. "Say that again."

The sergeant, looking desperately unhappy, sighed. "The predator cadets won't eat any of the insect meat or fish in the cafeteria."

"That's not the part I meant."

He closed his eyes. "Until they can be assured that arthropods and fish are not sapient."

"Yes," said Friedkin. "That's the bit I wanted to hear again." She sat down heavily at her desk. "I assume Hunter has something to do with this?"

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"Twenty seven charlie, are you clear for this code four at forty-two twenty-eight Badger Street?"

Nick growled under his breath. "This is getting ridiculous."

"It's a busy day," said Judy, though with some frustration in her voice. She picked up the mike. "That's clear. Clawhauser, we kinda need a break, here. We're trying to do a follow-up investigation."

"Sorry, Judy," said the cheetah over the radio. "Calls come first."

She sighed. They'd tried several times to get over to a local Fellowship church during their shift, but it the calls just kept coming. With the tension between the Terrans and the humans, a lot of mammals were on edge. To top it off, nearly half the on-duty officers were trying to stop a riot that had started from a peace march downtown. The irony of that was apparently lost on the rioters. "Fine, what is it?"

"Caller says there are two mammals in suits walking around the neighborhood threatening residents," read Clawhauser. "Says they seem to be some kind of religious zealots."

Judy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. There's all kinds of doomsayers out and about right now-"

Suddenly, Nick grabbed her paw with his and pulled the mike over. "We're on it, Clawhauser."

Judy blinked at him as he released her. "What are you doing? That call could have held a bit longer."

Nick was already making a U-turn. "I heard from someone in my old neighborhood that there were pairs of mammals going around prophesying the end of days." He gave her a significant glance. "Saying the humans will come smite us with their righteous wrath."

Slowly, Judy nodded. "That sounds familiar."

"Uh-huh."

Moments later, they were in the caller's neighborhood. Nick pointed out two mammals walking down the sidewalk, looking rather stiff and self-important. "Think that's them?"

"Either that or they're the best-dressed dope dealers in this part of town."

He pulled the car up next to the two mammals, a jackal and what he believed to be a mink. Some member of the weasel family, anyway. Nick got out and smiled at them. "Evening, all."

They regarded him warily. "Good evening," said the mink slowly. "Is there a problem, officer?"

"No, no problem. Just got a call two mammals were going around scaring the neighborhood." Judy came around the car and watched them, one paw resting near her baton. Their last experience with the Fellowship had not been pleasant.

"They should be frightened," said the jackal solemnly. "The gods have returned, and they are displeased with their children."

"You mean the humans," said Nick. "Right?"

The jackal nodded. "Long ago, almost all mammals believed in the gods," he said. "Then, the time of apostasy came. Many different religions arose. And now, with the gods having actually returned in the flesh, it is time for all mammals to repent." He looked questioningly at Nick, a fanatic light in his eyes. "I wonder, officer, if you yourself might not consider repenting?"

Nick and Judy shared a glance before he looked back at the jackal. "Maybe. How long does it take?"

"True repentance for one's sins takes a mammal's entire life," replied the jackal.

Nick glanced at his watch. "I've got about two hours left in the shift. How far will that get me?"

Both the other mammals frowned. "It is not meet to discourse so lightly on such serious matters."

Judy decided to step in. "Listen, we actually are somewhat interested in what you can tell us about the humans. Have you spoken with them?"

The mink looked to the jackal, who appeared surprised at her sudden interest. "There are few prey that are interested in the church," he said, suspiciously. "Though we welcome all," he added.

"Not many prey, huh? Why is that?"

"When the prey defeated the predators, they had already cast aside the old ways," explained the jackal. "The predators, too, in large part adopted the ways of their conquerors. The Naturae Libri teaches that all mammals once worshipped the true gods, however."

Both the cops' ears stood up in sudden interest. "The Naturae Libri?" asked Judy.

The jackal and mink nodded in unison. "The book of nature," translated the jackal. "Our holy book." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, new-looking, leatherbound book. "You may have a copy, if you wish."

Nick took it. "Thanks. So where is your church, anyway? My partner and I might want to attend."

"Just around the corner," said the jackal, pointing. He looked pleased at Nick's interest. "Take a right, then look for it three blocks up on your left. It's a small building, but sufficient to our needs. We look forward to seeing you there."

Nick smiled, showing his teeth. "I'm sure you do. Well, it's getting late. Maybe leave this block alone for the time being?"

"The hour of reckoning has come," said the jackal as the two cops started back toward the patrol car. "Though it is written that of that day no mammal knoweth the hour, no, not the angels of heaven, surely the return of the gods is a sign."

Nick and Judy turned back to look at them. "A sign of what?"

The jackal just smiled. "Of great things to come, Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps."

Judy stared at him. "You know who we are?"

"Nothing is hidden to those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear," said the jackal. "Go in peace." With that, he and the mink turned and walked off.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You need to listen to this," said Judy. She read from the Fellowship's book she had been given. "And lo, I heard as it were the sound of thunder, and I saw a light fall from the heavens, and it turned night into day. It fell amongst the trees and smote them down with a sound like unto ten thousand lions roaring. And it slew the very land, making all who stood upon it sick unto death."

Nick frowned. "Sounds like the Human-Mammal war. They dropped some nuclear weapons, you know."

"I read up on it. Like the Deadlands east of here," said Judy. "Still highly radioactive after all these years."

"Which is kinda weird, if you think about it. All the other irradiated regions have long since become more or less safe," said Nick. He shrugged as he pulled into their space back at the ZPD station. "I guess it was a particularly big bomb." He looked at his partner. "So what about that concerns you so much, anyway?"

"It's not just that," said Judy. She hopped down from her seat and held up the book. "It's the whole thing. This is pretty historically accurate, from what I've been able to check."

"So?" Nick locked the doors of the patrol car. "Lots of mammals had oral histories of that time."

"But there are some other weird things, too. Supposedly this was written about six thousand years ago. But it predicts the Prey-Predator wars, the defeat of the predators, the founding of Zootopia-"

"What?" Nick looked shaken. "That can't be right." He pulled out his phone and punched in a search on Zoogle. Almost immediately, he found what he was looking for. Slowly, he relaxed. "No, it says here that the book was almost certainly changed after the events took place. In other words, the so-called predictions were written after things had occurred."

Judy frowned. "Are they sure of that?"

"Pretty sure." Nick was still reading. "There are textual clues, no one has ever found a copy dating back more than a few centuries ago- it makes a lot more sense than if the book was actually predicting the future."

"I suppose," said Judy slowly. She followed Nick into the locker room, where he shrugged off his vest and uniform shirt. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan, Carrots? Isn't it obvious?" He reached into his locker and pulled out a shirt which he regarded critically. "Do you think this will work?" He held up the shirt to his chest.

She raised an eyebrow. "Work for what?"

"To go to church, of course." He waggled his eyebrows. "We've got some repenting to do."

Smiling, Judy rolled her eyes. "Didn't that jackal say it would take our entire lives?"

"Then we've not a moment to lose. For one thing, we need to go by our place first."

"Why's that?"

He leaned forward. "Because," he said conspiratorially, "I thought we might do something that we could repent for."

"What do you mean- oh." She blushed. "We'd better get going, then."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So can anyone tell me the elements of the offense of burglary?" The instructor, a lawyer from the Zootopia District Attorney's office, looked somewhat hopelessly over the cadets, whose eyes had a distinctly glazed appearance. "Anyone?"

Hunter raised his hand. "Within the city limits, an actor enters without effective consent of the owner, with the intention of committing theft or another felony," he said, bored.

The lawyer blinked. "Yes, that's right. Well done."

The rest of the class gave him wary looks. "What?" he said. "That's basic, guys."

"Yeah, but you haven't volunteered for anything since we started," said Eland.

"If it gets the boring damn lawyer out of the room faster, I'll recite the whole Criminal Code from memory," said Hunter irritably.

"I beg your pardon," said the lawyer, miffed.

"Granted," said Hunter graciously. "Just try to get to the point faster next time."

"Cadet Hunter!" Friedkin stuck her head into the classroom. "Sorry, Mr. Kohl," she said to the lawyer. Her eyes fell on Hunter. "Cadet! Front and center."

Hunter got up and walked up to the major. He snapped to attention, clicking his heels for good measure. "Yes, major!" he shouted. "Cadet Hunter ordering as reported!"

Friedkin frowned slightly, but ignored it. "You have a visitor."

"I do?" Then he nodded to himself, realizing who it was likely to be.

"Come on," said Friedkin irritably.

Hunter followed her into the cafeteria. As he had suspected, Tavi was there, standing on the table so she was closer to head height to him. "Officer Tavi, you can have ten minutes," said Friedkin. "And I'm only doing this because you said it was for an investigation."

Hunter walked up to Tavi. "How you doing, rookie?"

Behind him, Major Friedkin harrumphed loudly. "Cadet Hunter, this is _Officer_ Tavi. She is your superior."

Hunter glanced over his shoulder. "Right," he said dryly. "I forgot." His back straight, he saluted smartly. "Officer Tavi. Good to see you, ma'am."

Friedkin stared at him suspiciously. "Good, Hunter. If you acted that way with everyone around here you'd be doing a lot less PT."

Hunter shrugged. "But I'd be having a lot less fun, major."

"We're going to have a little heart-to-heart soon, Hunter."

"Always looking forward to it, ma'am."

With one last glare, Friedkin left the room.

Hunter looked down at his former rookie. "So what can I do for you, ma'am?"

Tavi rolled her eyes. "Call me rookie. It sounds much less disrespectful." Her eyes flicked to the door Friedkin had left by. "You know, this would be a lot easier if you just went along with the flow, Zach."

Hunter sat down next to her, back to the table. He stretched out his legs, getting some of the kinks out after sitting at the small desks in the classroom. "Tavi, maybe I deserve this and maybe I don't, but the fact is that I'm a veteran officer being treated like a kid still wet behind the ears."

The mongoose looked surprised. "Human kits are wet behind the ears, too?"

"What? No, it's just an expression." Hunter looked thoughtful. "Odd, now that I think about it. Humans have always anthropomorphised other mammals, even before we knew about you guys."

"Anthro-what?"

"Ascribed human characteristics to non-human things," explained Hunter. "It's kinda weird, when you think about it. Sort of like how you keep thinking that tank of yours is a person."

"He is a person!" squeaked Tavi indignantly. "He hates baths!"

"It is a tank," said Hunter patiently. "Yeah, it has a pretty sophisticated AI suite, but it was programmed to act like a thinking being. It's not actually one."

"How do you know?"

"Because it was created by us, not evolved like-" Hunter trailed off.

Tavi narrowed her eyes at him. "Evolved like humans, you mean?"

Hunter sighed. "Change of subject, all right? Why are you here? Not that I'm not glad to see you, but..."

She clearly wanted to pursue the previous subject, but finally shrugged. "We raided Mr. Big's house a few days ago."

"Yeah?" Hunter leaned forward. "That's the mouse that tried to have me killed, right?"

"Shrew, actually. And yes. Turns out he only was trying to kill you because Prometheus wanted you alive."

Hunter stared at her. "That was his only reason?"

She shrugged. "Apparently."

"He only wanted me dead because someone else wanted me alive."

"Well, he wasn't particularly happy with you embarrassing him, either."

He sighed. "What a terrible reason to die." A thought struck him. "Wait, did you say Prometheus wanted me alive?"

"That's what Mr. Big heard," confirmed Tavi. "Whoever this Prometheus character is, he put the word out that you weren't to be harmed."

"With friends like these," muttered Hunter. He looked at Tavi. "So I take it Prometheus is active in the underworld?"

"Maybe I should explain from the beginning," said Tavi.

 _Author's Note: Not the funniest of chapters, but there one or two decent jokes, I hope._

 _A quick word on things and stuff. I am probably going to be ending the series with this story (though I've got some ways to go here). That's not definite, but as much as I've enjoyed writing and as glad I am that at least a few people enjoyed it, I need to focus on something else for a while. Maybe try and get going on one of my ideas for a novel that I may actually publish. That said, I really appreciate the great support, especially from you guys who've been around since the beginning. I'd never have written around 200,000 words without your kind words and enthusiasm, and many of you have really helped me get better as a writer._

 _As I said, still a ways to go in this story, but I wanted to give ya'll a heads up that this is likely to be it._


	8. Chapter 7-Gunboat Diplomacy

Chapter 7

With a hiss of equalizing air pressures, the shuttle completed docking to Oakes's new command, the strike cruiser _Nike_. Oakes had watched the whole process with a detached air. It hadn't seemed real- not too long ago, he had expected to be cashiered, even potentially executed. Now, he was about to take command of one of the most powerful ships in the Human Stars Fleet, one of only a couple dozen strike cruisers.

The ensign conning the shuttle eyed him warily. No doubt the captain's seeming lack of interest or excitement unnerved him slightly. Most new commanders- especially one coming to a crack ship like the _Nike -_ would have been ebullient. Oakes ignored him. He had more important things to consider than the concerns of a single ensign.

The docking light showed green. Oakes instinctively checked the readouts to ensure that they also confirmed there was atmosphere behind the airlock door. He still remembered his instructor in Basic. "Never trust a green light until you've cross-checked it," the woman would say. "Because if you walk into vacuum, oh, how embarrassed you'd be. You know, if you were alive."

Space was harsh. There was no room for error.

Oakes triggered the airlock door and stepped through.

Immediately, the three officers and honor guard of Star Marines snapped to attention. He heard a low modulated tone, the electronic equivalent of a bosun's whistle. No one knew how the custom had started, but the Fleet never changed anything just because they didn't know why they did it.

Oakes turned toward the Human Stars flag prominently displayed and saluted precisely. He then turned to the female officer and saluted her. "Captain Jonathan Oakes. Permission to come aboard?"

She returned his salute snappily. "Commander Clara Tosetti," she replied. "Permission granted, captain." She was probably around forty years old, making her of more or less average age for her rank. Meaning she hadn't distinguished or disgraced herself more than the usual amount. Trim and fit, with blonde hair cropped short at her ears, she kept her face blank as she surveyed her new captain.

He dropped his salute and stepped forward, taking a paper from his pocket- his orders. Tosetti frowned slightly- he was moving very quickly. "Open a channel for ship-wide address, commander."

She nodded to an enlisted spacer who was standing unobtrusively by the door. The spacer turned to a panel and tapped in some instructions. "Shipwide address standing by."

Oakes held up his orders. "To Jonathan Oakes, holding the rank of Captain in the Human Stars Fleet:

"Sir. You are hereby required and directed to proceed upon board the Strike Cruiser _Nike_ and take upon you the charge and command of commander of her; willing and requiring all the officers and enlisted personnel belonging to the said Strike Cruiser to behave themselves in their several employments with all due respect and obedience to you their commander; and you likewise to observe as well the General Regulations of the Human Star Fleet, as well as what specific orders and instructions you shall from time to time receive from any superior officer in the Human Stars Fleet. You are specifically enjoined to seek out any and all enemies of humanity, which at this time includes the Karathi, the Drex, and in a declared state of war recently the Larrats, and take, breach, burn, or destroy their vessels of war or civilian vessels which fail to surrender upon being required to do so. Hereof nor you nor any of you may fail as you will answer the contrary at your peril.

"And for so doing this shall be your order."

Oakes folded the copy of his orders and replaced them in his pocket. "End shipwide address." He waited until the spacer at the control panel nodded, then turned back to Commander Tosetti. "Would you please introduce me to the other command staff?" he asked, nodding to the other two officers with her.

A little surprised at his abruptness- but unwilling to show it- she turned businesslike. "Yes, captain. This is Iosef Vasilescu, our chief engineer." A dark-haired, muscular officer with a trimmed moustache nodded, clicking his heels. Luytenian, most likely- their Fleet academy was renowned for their punctiliousness and love of military courtesies. "And this is-"

"Colonel Alonzo Gomez Rodolfo de Santa Domingo de los Estados Unidos y la Mancha," said the Marine colonel.

Oakes blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Not to worry, captain," said the colonel breezily. "Again, it was Colonel Alonzo Gomez Rodolfo-"

Oakes held up a hand. "Colonel la Mancha."

"Yes, but before that-"

"Colonel, I fear I have some five hundred shipmates whose names I have to learn, and learning all of yours sounds like it will double that burden. Will Colonel la Mancha do?"

He looked wounded, but nodded. "Yes, sir."

"So how are our marines?"

"Ah, a splendid bunch, captain! Brave, intelligent, resourceful, impetuous, daring, punctual, studious-"

"Wait. Studious? _Marines?_ " Oakes glanced at Tossetti and Vasilescu, who appeared to be pretending to be elsewhere.

"But of course, captain! They are my Marines! No one goes into battle without being able to understand the battle plans I come up with!" La Mancha said, affronted. "And that requires study! Discipline! Pencils!"

"Pencils," said Oakes weakly. "Yes, I suppose-"

"Because ink tends to boil away in vacuum, you see," said la Mancha seriously. "Also they work poorly if at all in microgravity."

"Your marines write a lot during combat, do they?"

"I require them to keep a combat diary, captain. In it they can note the tactics and weaponry used by the enemy, as well as their thoughts, feelings, and any recipes that they learn and would like to try at a later date."

"I see." Oakes looked at the marine colonel thoughtfully. "Seen a lot of combat, colonel?"

"Indeed. I fought in the Juniper Raid."

"I see," said Oakes again, but this time he did. The Juniper Raid was, despite the name, one of the largest full-scale invasions by the Larrat in living memory. The Larrat specialized in psychological warfare- saying a soldier was "juniper" was still a shorthand for indicating someone was suffering from combat-induced psychosis. "Well, colonel, I think we'll end up having work for your marines sooner or later."

"Ah?" La Mancha seemed even more excited. "The Larrat? I still have a few score of scores to settle with them, captain."

"No, likely no combat. Have them brush up on their diplomatic protocol." At la Mancha's blank look he sighed. "It's in the back of the military customs and protocol manual, colonel."

"Diplomacy," said la Mancha reflectively. "Well, it is a grievous challenge, but my boys are always ready to exceed your wildest expectations."

"Oh, good," said Oakes flatly. "Best get to it, then."

"Sir!" La Mancha clicked his heels and did a perfect about face, marching briskly out of the airlock.

There was a long pause. "So is he-" began Oakes.

"No, he's usually more cheerful," said Vasilescu lugubriously. "One time he decided his marines needed to be cross-trained in engineering duties."

"Marine engineers," said Oakes wonderingly. "How did that work out?"

"I managed to keep the reactor stable and eventually activated the non-lethal anti-boarding measures to clear them out of the engine room. La Mancha put me in for a commendation for innovative training techniques."

"He's actually not that bad," said Tosetti anxiously. "In combat, he's quite focused and, well, sane."

"For a marine," muttered the chief engineer.

"So, sir," said Tosetti, trying to change the subject from their eccentric colonel of marines, "Our mission will be a diplomatic one?"

"Yes," said Oakes. He started walking. "We're transporting the new delegation to Terra to try and sort out the mess XSO made."

The other two officers fell in behind him as they walked out of the airlock. "New delegation?" asked Tosetti.

"The old one got PNG'd en masse by the Terran government," explained Oakes. "They agreed to accept a new delegation, however. It was more symbolic than anything."

"Right," said Vasilescu dubiously. "You know, captain, I don't think it's entirely appropriate to have a strike cruiser transporting a diplomatic delegation. Might give the wrong impression."

"I suspect it will give precisely the impression the government wishes to give," said Oakes, fixing him with an icy glare. "And I don't think it's in your remit to question our orders."

Blinking at the reproof, Vasilescu ducked his head slightly. "Sorry, sir." Oakes ignored the look that passed between his two officers.

Frankly, he was working for the Security Directorate now. While not enemies of the Fleet, exactly, there had been a number of Fleet purges by the Directorate. The Fleet as an organization had a very long memory.

He wasn't going to get attached to anyone here. It would make it far too difficult to keep betraying them.

"Well," said Tosetti, breaking the silence. "I suppose that explains the ranger, then."

Oakes missed a step. "The ranger?"

"The one who arrived before you did? We set her up in one of the VIP quarters." Tosetti watched him narrowly. "I assume now she's going with the diplomatic delegation."

The captain grimaced. "Take me to her."

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The door slid open and Oakes stepped inside. "Commander Tosetti, Vasilescu- go on about your duties. I'll convene the officers at a later time to brief them."

He turned his attention to ranger Khabat, who was standing with a smile on her face to greet him. He barely heard the acknowledgements of his orders from Tosetti and Vasilescu. "Khabat."

"Hello, captain. Good to see you again in so much more salubrious circumstances."

Oakes glanced at the door to ensure it had closed. "What are you doing here?" He clenched one fist without entirely realizing it. "Don't trust me? Need to keep an eye on me, is that it?"

"No, captain." Her voice abruptly turned brisk. "The situation on Terra requires my attention."

"Oh? Rangers decided to start dabbling in diplomacy?"

"Not exactly." She turned and picked up a folder from her desk in the corner of the small room. "You know what- or who, perhaps- we're after."

"Prometheus," said Oakes. "Yes, surprisingly I've not forgotten. It's been weighing somewhat on my mind, seeing as he nearly got me shot."

"Do you know how Terra was rediscovered?" She opened the folder, perusing the contents.

Oakes shrugged. "I assumed in the usual way. We bored a wormhole through to the system, sent a ship through-"

"It's the human homeworld, Oakes. Why would we have to bore a wormhole?"

Oakes paused. The usual method for faster-than-light travel was to- at enormous expense in energy- gradually bore a wormhole from one system to another. It couldn't be bored any faster than the speed of light, though after it was formed it could be used for near-instantaneous travel. A good analogy was a railroad track- takes time to build, but then can be used for much faster travel than it would have taken to lay the tracks. "But if there was already an active wormhole-"

"It wasn't active. It was closed."

For a long moment, he stared at her as he processed the implications. The technology for "closing" wormholes was long-lost, or so he had thought. They could be- if one were very lucky- detected, but as far as he knew no one knew how to re-open one. "That's impossible."

She shrugged. "Yet it happened. A routine Explorator probe to Wolf 359 detected an active wormhole that wasn't there before. Meaning it must have been set up by our ancestors, and somehow reopened. At a guess, someone sent a ship through to Wolf 359 and re-opened it when no one was around.

That was possible. Wolf 359 had little of value and, until the Terran wormhole had been found, was a "dead-end" system. "So what are you saying?"

"We need that technology, Oakes." Her voice was very serious now. "If we can re-open wormholes- we can rebuild the Old Terran Empire. Rediscover lost colonies. Gain a major military advantage over the Karathi, and possibly the Drex."

"So why come to Terra?"

"The most likely explanation is that someone- perhaps Prometheus- reopened the wormhole from our side," she said. "I'm here to explore the less likely explanation."

He stared at her. "The Terrans? They're primitive."

"No," she corrected. "They're quite advanced. Just not up to our standards yet, at least not in space exploration. But they're also sitting on the most advanced treasure trove of human knowledge in the galaxy."

He shook his head. "I don't understand-"

"Terra, Oakes. The birthplace of the human race. Can you imagine what sort of lost technology it contains?" She sat down again. "Our job is to find out if they have that technology. If they do, we need to get it. No matter the cost."

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Nick and Judy, now dressed in their civilian clothes, stood outside the entrance to the Church of the Fellowship of Terra. It was a nondescript building, with only a cheap printed sign in the window marking it for what it was. Two tigers walked past, a cub in tow, giving them a curious look as they walked into the building.

Judy shivered in the cool breeze as it blew through the street. "You sure about this? The last one of these guys we dealt with tried to kill us."

Nick shrugged. "It'll help to see what we're dealing with. I mean, besides the fact that they essentially worship humans, what do we know about this church, anyway?"

"That one of them tried to kill us," said Judy dryly. "Weren't you listening?"

"Come on, Carrots, time to be daring. They won't try anything in broad daylight. You know as well as I do that most of the, um-" Nick hesitated, trying to think of the word, and brightened as he remembered, "-congregation didn't know about the illegal activity the church father was involved in."

"No, I know they couldn't prove anything. That's different."

Nick sighed. "Do you really not want to go in? Because we don't have to."

She shook her head. "No, I wouldn't have come all the way out here otherwise. I'm just waiting for you to convince me this isn't as stupid as it sounds."

"Oh. Well, can we just pretend I did?"

She smiled at him. "Sure, why not." In a tone of exaggerated surprise, she went on. "Wow, Nick, that's actually a pretty good point, and well argued, too. I should totally walk into the cultist meeting with you instead of studying for my upcoming promotional exam or doing, literally, anything else!"

The fox grimaced down at her. "Okay, now I'm starting to change my mind."

"Oh, come on. Let's get this over with."

They walked inside into a large antechamber, and were immediately greeted by an aged female badger. She handed them both books. Nick and Judy looked at it curiously, realizing the books were, in fact, hymnals. "My," said the badger cheerfully. "Haven't seen you two before! It's always good to see young mammals interested in the Word of Nature."

"Word of Nature?" asked Nick curiously. "I mean, you understand we just found out about this church and thought we'd come by..."

"Oh, yes? Well, we believe that everyone and everything has its place under the rule of Nature, and the gods- you know we revere the humans for their creation of us, right?- the gods are set above all. 'And Nature blessed man, and set him to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.'" She said the last with a reverent air, in the manner of someone quoting.

Nick and Judy glanced at one another. "That's from the Libris Naturae?" asked Judy, holding up her copy of that book.

The badger smiled. "It is indeed. Have you been studying it, child?"

"Ye-es," said Judy carefully. "I have. Haven't gotten through it all yet, though."

"Don't worry- the truth is worth it." She glanced at a clock on the wall. "Oh, dear, it's almost time for the service to begin. Please sit anywhere." She gestured towards the far end of the antechamber. The two cops walked through the doors.

The building was small and cramped, but somehow nearly a hundred mammals of many different species had crammed in. They sat on benches arrayed facing the far end of the room, where a worn wooden podium was standing. Most were predators, as they had been led to expect, but there were a fair number of prey mammals as well. In one corner, wedged in and looking distinctly uncomfortable, there was even an elephant.

Nick looked around. "This has got to be a fire code violation."

Judy nodded absently, still scanning the crowd. "Violation of city fire ordinance thirty-six point oh eight, and probable violation of thirty-seven oh one."

Her partner gave her a sidelong look. "Fire code is on the promotional exam?" 

"Hmm? Oh, no." She shook her head and frowned at him. "We're supposed to know the laws, you realize."

"Yes, but if you know them to that extent you just look weird."

"Oh, come on, you think it's sexy how I can quote the fire code at a moment's notice."

He hesitated. "Maybe a bit," he admitted. "So where should we sit?"

"Near the back," she answered. "Let's try not to draw too much attention."

As they moved towards the rearmost benches, the quiet murmur of the gathered animals died away into an expectant silence. They had just sat down when an elderly wildebeest walked hesitantly up the steps to the podium. He- apparently the leader of the congregation- grasped the edges of the podium and scanned the congregation with a shrewd gaze.

"Peace be upon you," he said, finally.

"And upon you," said the congregation.

"I speak now from the Book of Nature." Adjusting his spectacles, the wildebeest flipped open a book- presumably a copy of the Libris Naturae- on the podium. It fell open, clearly having been marked beforehand. "'And in that time there shall be wars and rumors of wars, and the way between stars shall be opened. And man, who hath forsaken us, shall return to his children once more. Those who have eyes to see, let them see. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear."

The wildebeest looked up, and his eyes fell upon Nick and Judy. "We have among us two today who have walked with none other than the most blessed Saint Zacharias Hunter, and have heard his great wisdom and seen his great deeds. My brothers, let us welcome Officers Wilde and Hopps of the Zootopian Police Department."

Every mammal in the congregation turned to look at Judy and Nick.

"So much for avoiding notice," said Judy resignedly. She glanced at Nick.

"Nick! Stop waving!"

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"This obstacle course will test your stamina and ability to operate in one of the several unique habitats of Zootopia," announced Friedkin. "For this one, the scorching desert winds of Sahara Square."

The cadets looked nervously at the obstacle course, particularly the massive fans which were revving up at one end of the course. Hunter looked bored.

"What do you think, Mr. Hunter?" whispered Tibbs, who had taken to following him around.

Hunter looked down at the warthog. "About the obstacle course? Piece of cake. I used to live near Sahara Square. I like the heat."

"Excellent, Cadet Hunter," said Friedkin, who had overheard. "Then you'll be the first to go."

Sighing, Hunter moved to the end of the course. "Low crawl to the end, then over the wall and jog around for another run," said Friedkin. "You'll want to keep the sand out of your eyes."

"Got it," said Hunter. He carefully got to his hands and knees, then sank onto his belly, feeling the warm sand. The nice, warm, soft sand...

The fans finished revving up and a massive blast of hot air and sand swept across the course. "All right, Cadet!" shouted Friedkin. "Go!"

There was a long pause. "Did you not hear me, cadet? Go! Go! Go!"

Eland, who was just behind Hunter, prodded him cautiously. "Hunter?"

The only answer was a snore. Hunter was fast asleep.

Friedkin threw up her paws and stalked away, muttering.

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	9. Chapter 8- Old Cops Never Die

Chapter 8

"Welcome," said the wildebeest again. "Would you like to say a few words?"

Nick and Judy looked blank. "No?" said Nick tentatively. "I mean, we just wanted to ask a few questions-"

"Splendid! So do we," said the wildebeest. He walked from the podium towards Nick and Judy. "I am Father Gneumann. This is a place of contemplation, of peace. And for seekers after truth, it is a place of answers. So let us have the questions, and see if we can find the answers together." He stopped in front of Nick and Judy and watched them expectantly.

Judy nodded. "Very well. Who is Prometheus?"

Beside her, Nick breathed in sharply. "Wow, right to the point, huh? You sure that's wise, Carrots?" he asked quietly.

She shrugged slightly. "What about this plan was wise to begin with, Nick?"

Gneumann showed no reaction to the name, though she had the impression he was carefully keeping his face blank. "My brothers and sisters," he said, raising his voice. "These two seekers after truth wish to know of Prometheus."

A tiger took a step toward them and raised her hand eagerly. "I know, Father!"

"I think we all know," muttered someone behind her.

Nick stared at them. "You do?"

"Of course," said the tiger indignantly. "He was a Titan, one of the progenitors of the ancient Greek gods. He stole fire from the gods, as well as the arts of farming and civilization, and gave them to humanity."

"Oh," said Nick, disappointed. "We were hoping for someone who would be somewhat less than thousands of years old, and a whole lot less mythical."

Judy, however, appeared suddenly intrigued. "But why is Prometheus so well known to the church?"

It was Gneumann who answered. "Even in the errors of the elders- for naturally there were no 'gods' above mankind- we can find fragments of truth. Do you not see the connection?"

"Fire and other arts of civilization," said Nick slowly, as it began to dawn on him. "It's like how we were given the gift of intelligence."

"A gift- and a curse. There was another myth of ancient humanity similar to the story of Prometheus," said the wildebeest gravely. "The garden of Eden."

Nick shrugged. "Hadn't heard that one."

"Once, the story goes, man was innocent. He lived without toil and without fear," said the wildebeest. "Only one thing was forbidden to him- he could not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. For if he did, said the god in this myth, then he would surely die."

Nick nodded. "So naturally he ate of the tree."

"How did you know?" asked Gneumann, looking at him narrowly.

"The story would be pretty pointless otherwise, wouldn't it?"

"Much like man, we mammals were once innocent, acting only according to our natures," said the wildebeest. "But man gave us the gift of sapience, the ability to see beyond our immediate needs and fears to something greater. And in that gift is our curse, for in allowing greater acts of good, there was also a greater ability to do evil. And it is evil that we allow ourselves to do willingly, knowing the consequences of our actions."

"So the lion who ate of the flesh of the lamb would know he had murdered," said the tiger who had spoken before. Her voice was sad. "And be marked by it forevermore."

"Not that prey are immune to this sin," said Father Gneumann. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of the gods."

"So the gift of knowledge of good and evil- you think it also made us sinful?" Judy was trying to wrap her head around this philosophy. It made a sort of sense, but was- strange. She wasn't used to thinking of intelligence as a negative.

"Say instead it gave us our free will, to do evil or good as we pleased," said Gneumann. "And without that will, that knowledge of what we were doing, there is neither evil nor good, but merely survival or, well, not."

Nick blinked. "Wow, that's kind of heavy for this early in the morning."

"The words of the gods are not to be taken lightly," said Gneumann complacently. "Now, I wonder if we can ask you a question?"

Judy shrugged. Maybe they could learn something useful from what the church wanted to know. "I can't promise I know the answer, but you are free to ask."

"Tell us of the Saint Zacharias," said Gneumann. All around, the assembled mammals leaned forward.

Nick and Judy shared a look. "Well, he's...different."

"How so?" asked Gneumann impatiently. "Perhaps you can sense the light of his wisdom when he speaks?"

Nick stared at the wildebeest incredulously. "Not that I've noticed, no," he managed to say. "Usually, when he speaks, he's more, um, sarcastic than wise."

Father Gneumann nodded sagely. "To the foolish, the words of the wise may well be delivered with irony. For the ways of the foolish are often humorous to those who see farther."

"That's one way of looking at it," muttered Nick. "For instance, this converstation is quickly becoming hilarious."

"What else can you say about him?"

"He's arrogant."

"Aware of his own superiority to our mere mammal selves," reinterpreted Gneumann gravely. "And?"

"Sneaky."

"Clever in the ways of the world and in seeing that the Will of Nature is done."

Nick was getting a bit annoyed now. "And lazy. Very, very lazy."

Gneumann hesitated. "Yeah, try to spin that," said Nick under his breath.

"He preserves his energy to better use his resources," said Gneumann finally.

Nick sighed.

"He's a person," said Judy in exasperation. "In some ways, he's better than others. In other ways, he's worse."

"In many ways, he's much, much worse," added Nick. There was a low grumble in the room at these words. Judy gave him a worried glare. "What?"

"Look," said Judy quickly. "Why are you so interested in him, anyway? There've been lots of humans on Terra since we came into contact with the humans again."

In answer, Gneumann opened the Libris Naturae. "Look here," he said, holding it out to the bunny, his finger showing a place in the text.

Judy looked at Nick, then leaned over to read the indicated words. "And he shall come again, giver of wisdom, bringer of gifts, when the gods return. He shall walk among the saints and the sinners of the world of mammals, and his vengeance to the guilty will be as swift as his comfort to the afflicted. And when he has judged the world, he shall at last bring peace, to both Hunters and Prey. There shall be no more sin, nor death, but all shall live in harmony under the rule of the true gods."

Judy's eyes moved slowly to Gneumann, who closed the book. "You wish to know who Prometheus is, Judy Hopps and Nicholas Wilde?"

The wildebeest held up the book. "Then look to him whom you are privileged to call friend. The most holy Zacharias Hunter, who has stood up for us to those of the godhood who would see us destroyed. Who has brought vengeance to the wicked and comfort to the afflicted. He who shall at last give us peace."

He set down the book with an air of finality, the heavy thump echoing in the suddenly silent room. "It is written."

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"So tell me about Hunter," said Bogo.

Friedkin and he, along with several other members of the academy staff, were having their usual monthly meeting. Friedkin exchanged nervous looks with the other academy officers.

"He's doing extremely well in the academics," said the polar bear finally. "He has a knack for grasping law and, naturally, understands how it works on a practical basis."

"Good tactical and driving skills," noted the driving instructor. "Although with a tendency for unorthodox tactics."

"Such as?" said Bogo. He seemed vaguely pleased, likely because he wasn't having to deal with the aftermath of Hunter's antics. At least not directly.

"Room clearance," murmured Ajuagar. "My God, room clearance."

Bogo raised an eyebrow at Friedkin. "He suggested the use of grenades for a scenario," said Friedkin.

"That doesn't sound so bad-"

"And when we vetoed it, he made his own."

Bogo gave her a level look. "Non-lethal?"

She looked surprised. "Of course. I mean, I don't know him as well as you do, chief, but even Hunter wouldn't train with lethal home-made grenades."

"You're right, major," said Bogo. "You don't know him as well as I do."

The instructors all gave each other uneasy looks. "Well, anyway, he just used shaving cream and rigged them to explode when thrown," said Friedkin. "Officer Furrington was covered in foam."

"Then he threatened to shave me," said Furrington angrily. "I gave him three laps for that one."

"That's all?" said Bogo, surprised. At their confused looks, he explained. "Humans have much higher rates of endurance than most other mammals. Three laps on our track is probably a cakewalk, even for an older human like Hunter."

Friedkin frowned. "No, sir, I did not know that."

"I thought you knew." Judging by her expression, Bogo suspected that Hunter was about to have a much harsher punishment regimen. "I suggest you read up on human capabilities, major. Though I am told that most aren't much like our Cadet Hunter."

"Thank God for that," said Furrington fervently.

"The main problem with Hunter is his attitude," said Friedkin. "He's taking the whole thing as a joke."

"I see. And how have you dealt with that?"

She looked puzzled. "The usual way, chief. Lots and lots of shouting. Intimidation. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? I want him to succeed, chief. There's a good officer inside him, I can feel it."

"Deep, deep inside," muttered Ajuagar. "Like, under about twenty feet of sarcasm and a hundred feet of 'I don't give a damn'."

"He was a cop for a long time," pointed out Bogo. "And he really does care about this job. I'm not saying you should let him get away with his shenanigans, but- look, you worked the street for a long time, major. How much would someone shouting at you work?"

She blinked. "Not much. That's pretty much par for the course."

"Exactly. So how would you get through to yourself?"

"Hunter is not like me," she protested. "He's-" she hesitated, trying to describe him, "-bitter."

"Uh-huh. I know that. And despite his arrogance, he really does blame himself for what he went through." Bogo stood. "It's up to you to break through that shell of arrogance he's built up around himself."

The major stood as well. "Sir, quite frankly, is he really worth the trouble?"

The chief pointed at her. "That's what he's here for us to find out. I may not be able to fire him, but I'll have him counting cars at the impound lot if he's as broken as he seems to be." He turned to leave, but paused. "Oh, and one more thing, major. I know we usually keep the cadets here over the weekend, but the Terran Council wants him present when the new human delegation arrives." He held up his paws. "Don't ask me why. So you might want to modify the PT regimen for him before then."

She sighed. "Fine. I'll try not to tire him out too much."

Bogo looked at her, shocked. "No, that's not what I'm saying at all. An exhausted Hunter is a Hunter less likely to cause an interstellar incident. Keep him busy- if he sleeps through the whole thing we'll call it a win."

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Hunter looked both ways and surreptitiously transferred a couple more of the dinner forks from the cafeteria to his pocket. As far as he could tell, no one had seen him. The forks were followed by a couple of butter knives.

Except for his ever-present shadow, of course. "Why are you stealing silverware?" stage-whispered Tibbs.

"Keep it down, will you? We're doing the Tundratown obstacle course after this, you know."

"So?"

"Watch and learn, rook- I mean, cadet." He sauntered casually out of the cafeteria, sketching a salute to Officer Furrington, who was watching the cadets narrowly. "You don't have to follow me everywhere, Tibbs. I can't possibly be that interesting."

"But- you're the only human I've ever seen!"

"So? Surely there's a bunch of mammals you haven't seen before. Like, I don't know, capybaras."

"What's a capybara?"

"It's a large rodent, believed to have originated in the Amazonian continent. Likes jungles and marsh." He and Tibbs walked across the Academy grounds towards the obstacle courses on the far east side of the property.

The warthog nodded. "Huh. How do you know about them? I don't think I've ever seen one."

"It's a long story," replied Hunter absently. They had just joined the rest of the cadets who were standing in a clump near the Tundratown. Hunter nodded to McHorn in a friendly manner, getting a disdainful look in reply. "Kinda like why McHorn there doesn't like me. I got his uncle demoted."

"What? How?"

"I cunningly blocked his uncle's fist with my stomach," said Hunter cheerfully. "Totally worth it."

"Hunter!" said Eland, spotting him. "You're not late!"

"Nope. Thought I'd get here early," he said, looking over the obstacle course with a critical eye- particularly the icy wall at one end. "Try and turn over a new leaf."

"Uh-huh," said Eland skeptically. "What are you up to, Hunter?"

"What makes you think I'm up to anything?"

"Because every time I see you, you're up to something. I can see you, therefore you are up to something. QED."

"QED?" asked Tibbs curiously.

"It's Latin for 'see how clever I am'," said Hunter. Eland frowned.

"No, it's not-"

Before she could continue, Friedkin's voice made the cadets jump. "Ten-hut! In formation, now!"

The cadets rushed to get into something approximating a proper formation and into something approximating attention. The polar bear instructor- who had perfected the art, it seemed, of sneaking up on a group of nervous cadets in a nearly open field- watched them until it seemed they were in some kind of order. Hunter received several particularly suspicious glances. He tried his best to look innocent, which made her frown even more fiercely at him. "The following course is designed to mimic the conditions you may face in Tundratown. Have you ever been in Tundratown, Cadet Hunter?"

"Yes, ma'am!" he said snappily. "I once punted a raccoon into a trash can outside a bar there while drunk!"

Friedkin opened her mouth, then closed it again, clearly at a loss for words. "Anyway," she finally managed to say. "The predominant feature of Tundratown is, as you may expect, ice. So, as you can see, we have an obstacle course set up, which includes a frigid ice wall! Cadet Eland, you're up first!"

The cadets took turns, though most caught up as they slipped and skidded across the ice. Taking a deep breath, Friedkin called out,"Hunter! You're up! And if you fall asleep on my obstacle course again, you're dead!" Her eyes were locked resolutely on the slippery progress of her cadets.

Hunter jumped up to his feet, where he had been fiddling with his shoes for some reason. "Yes, ma'am!" Wobbling slightly, he jumped onto the obstacle course.

Where most of the other mammals- except for the ones with very large feet, like McHorn, and some of the ones otherwise designed for the conditions- were still floundering, Hunter put his arms behind his back and pushed off with a foot, sliding effortlessly- if a bit bumpily across the ice. The polar bear gaped at him. "What- how-"

He held up a foot, showing where he had embedded a butter knife into the sole of his shoe. "Field expedient ice skates," he explained cheerfully. With a wave, he skated off down the course.

"You've still got the wall!" shouted Friedkin, who sounded almost- impressed? Hunter shook his head as he flashed past McHorn. No, had to be his imagination.

He pulled the forks he had stolen from his pockets as he approached the wall. Picking up speed, he slammed hard into the icy wall, forks held out in front of him. They buried themselves deep into the ice.

Pausing only to yank the butter knives from his sneakers, he grabbed his makeshift handholds and pulled himself up until he was halfway over the wall. He grinned over his shoulder at Friedkin. "Dead? Don't you know what they say? Old cops never die." He pulled another fork from his pocket and stabbed it into the ice, using it to yank himself over the top of the wall. He stumbled a bit as he landed, but managed to keep his feet. He looked at Friedkin again. "They just find a way." He made a little bow.

It was at that moment that Tibbs made it over the top as well and lost his balance coming over. He fell right on top of Hunter, flattening him to the cold, hard ice below.

Tibbs immediately jumped up. "Woo! I made it!" He hesitated as he looked down. "Oh, sorry, Hunter."

"Oh, it's okay," said Hunter. He groaned as he picked himself up. "I haven't had a warthog fall on me in a long time."

"You've had it happen before?"

"Or ever. I meant ever."

"Hunter!" Friedkin walked over, glaring down at him. "My office! Now!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter found himself in a familiar position. Standing in front of a desk, with someone in authority frowning at him. At least he had gotten somewhat used to it.

The most important thing was not to be the first to break the silence. Whoever spoke first, paradoxically, seemed to give up the initiative.

"Why are you here?" asked Friedkin abruptly.

That was a bit quicker than usual. The question, however, was a familiar one. "To protect and serve the fine citizens of-"

"No, Hunter. I don't want the academy-approved answer, which I notice you've given for once in your time here. I mean here at the police academy."

He frowned. "I was ordered to come here by Chief Bogo."

"Yes," she said, exasperated. "But you could have refused."

"Refused an order? Me? Never." Hunter affected a wounded tone. "I am always very attentive to orders."

"Really," said Friedkin flatly.

"Almost always." She continued to stare at him. "A majority of the time."

"Since you've been here," she said, still watching him, "you've done everything you can to undermine our authority. You've been disrespectful, discourteous, and-" she hesitated.

"Disaffected?" supplied Hunter. "Disagreeable? Dismissed?"

She nodded along as he spoke but frowned at the last word. "Dismissed?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Hunter saluted and turned to walk out of the door.

"Stop!" she shouted. With a sigh, he turned around to see the major giving him Supervisor Look Number Thirty-Seven. The "I'm really angry at you but also found that last antic hilarious" one. "What I'm getting at," she said, clearly trying to hide a smile, "is that you could have taken retirement. After the Raid, the city would have been happy to give you a nice severance package, a decent retirement fund. All you had to do was take it."

He shrugged, though inwardly he was starting to get annoyed. It wasn't any of her business why he was still here. "I've still got work to do," he said.

"Like what?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

Hunter didn't answer, but met her eyes. Slowly, Friedkin nodded.

She stood up. "Hunter, there's a lot of bad reasons to be a cop. Vengeance is at the top of the list."

"Don't understand you, major," said Hunter stolidly.

"I read your file, of course. You've been through a lot. A lot was done to you." She walked around the desk and leaned back against it in front of him. "A lot was done to those you love."

"If you read my file, you'd understand why I'm here," said Hunter, between clenched teeth. "I go through this farce, then I get back on the streets where I belong."

"Frankly, Hunter, you belong in an asylum," said Friedkin dryly. More seriously, she went on. "But as that stunt you pulled showed, you're a damned resourceful mammal when you put your mind to it. I can see why the chief doesn't really want to lose you."

Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. "He doesn't?"

"Hunter, if it hadn't been for you, Hopps, Wilde, and Tavi, a lot of innocent mammals would have died. The department could use a good cop with the attributes you have. A good cop," she emphasized.

That did it. "I was a damned good cop for twenty-plus years, major," snapped Hunter. "This is nothing more than an insult. And fine, I have to put up with it so I can go back to doing my job, so I will. But don't expect me to act like a damned wide-eyed cadet who needs to be taught which end of the gun to point at the bad guy!"

Friedkin said nothing, but after a moment turned around and picked up a piece of paper that was lying loose on her desk. "Rule Four," she read from the paper. "If you're a cop and not learning, you're either dead or will be."

Hunter stared at her. "Someone wrote those down?"

"Yep. Judy Hopps, in fact. You know, when she first came here, no one thought she'd make it. We generally didn't take small mammals into the police, for what I suspect are obvious reasons."

Hunter didn't say anything, just shrugged.

"She failed, Hunter. Repeatedly and often. So have you, for the most part. But the difference is, she was trying." Friedkin poked him in the chest. "She gave it her all. She never gave up."

"I've been through this all before," began Hunter, a little annoyed. "Having to do it again-"

"Is the price you pay for learning," said Friedkin. "We're cops, Hunter. We do the same thing over, and over, and over, and the next day we do it again. You know that."

"Yeah, but-"

"And everytime we do, we learn something new." She pointed to the paper. "Or we're dead."

Hunter opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say.

She smiled at him, a bit sadly. "Are you dead, Mr. Hunter? Or are you going to- what was it you said? Find a way?"

He just frowned, thinking.

After waiting a moment for an answer, she sighed. "Dismissed, cadet."

The human gave her one more unreadable look, then slowly saluted before leaving.

 _Author's Note_ : _The bit with the ice skates is cartoon logic, I'll admit. It could theoretically work, but I sure as hell wouldn't try it. Pretty sure you'd break your ankle, and you'd have to have just the right sort of tread on your sneakers to wedge in the knife correctly. Still, it was an amusing image so I kept it._

 _Oh, by the way, Hunter's "Old cops never die..." is a- what would you call it? Parody?- of a famous quote by General MacArthur- "Old soldiers never die. They just fade away."_


	10. Chapter 9-Hotel to November

Chapter 9- Hotel to November

Oakes nodded to the armed marine outside the _Nike_ 's bridge as he presented arms and held his identification disk up to the reader. "Captain Oakes," he said.

The computer beeped in acknowledgement. "Welcome to the bridge, captain."

He shook his head. Why program a military vessel to greet people? Was this a Fleet combat vessel or a supermarket? He walked onto the bridge.

The first time he had been up here, a few days ago, he had waited for the sense of satisfaction, of ownership that came with being the master and commander of a fully-functioning, smooth-running machine designed by the greatest minds of the Human Stars. For the strike cruisers were top of the line. It was rumored that they may even be equal to the incredible starships the ancestors of the human race had developed before the dark ages that had fallen upon man's retreat from Terra. Oakes doubted that, frankly. So much knowledge had been lost-

He looked around. No sense of satisfaction, here. The bridge crew bent intently to their various tasks, their uniforms neat and their attitudes professional. When he walked in, Commander Tosetti spotted him and immediately stood up from the command console. He hesitated, looking around, trying to place why he felt so much a stranger in his own ship.

Perhaps it was that he was a stranger. He had only taken command a few days ago, after all. But he was Fleet, and had been for nearly his entire life. As captain, he slotted into the functioning of the ship like the keystone block of an archway- important, no doubt, and slightly different, but a clear part of the whole and the part that kept the whole thing together.

Most likely, it had to do with the fact that he was not even his own master anymore. He answered to the Security Directorate.

The loneliness of command was one thing, but at least you had your part to play. Now, he wasn't sure what part he would be playing. And he had never felt so alone, despite being crammed onto a metal box with over five hundred other human beings.

He walked over to the command console. "Commander Tosetti. I relieve you."

"I stand relieved, sir," she replied formally. "No new sensor contacts, course is still zero-one..."

He listened with half an ear, scanning the console in front of him. "Thank you, Commander," he said when she finished. He turned to look back at her as she started to leave. "Would you-" he stopped.

Confused, she prompted him to continue. "Sir?" Then she followed his gaze.

In one corner, hidden slightly by the heavily reinforced door, were three stuffed animals. A lion, a tiger and a bear. "What are those doing on my bridge?" he snapped.

Tosetti went pale. "Sir, I don't- they weren't here when I came up. I suppose- well, when the crew found out we were going to Terra, someone probably put them up here."

Still angry, but now puzzled as well, Oakes stood up. "So?"

"Well, it's been sort of a tradition for naval vessels going to Terra. Lions, tigers, and bears, you know..." she trailed off.

"A tradition," he said, his voice very cold. He raised his voice so the whole bridge could hear- which wasn't really necessary, as he was sure the culprit was listening very closely already. "Having any sort of unnecessary equipment on the bridge is strictly against regulations. I expect whoever put those up here to place him or herself on report. If I have to find out who did it, I will double his or her punishment." He sat back down. "Commander, please remove the unauthorized items from the bridge."

"Yes, sir." She grabbed the animals and hastily made her exit.

There was silence for the next hour other than a few quiet status reports, until, timidly, the navigator spoke. "Conn, Navigation. We are approaching the wormhole."

"Very well," said Oakes composedly. "Prepare for transit."

"Yes, sir." The navigator pressed a button on her console. "Now hear this. All personnel are to prepare for wormhole transit. I say again, secure ship for wormhole transit. Transit will begin in-" she glanced at a screen, "-one-zero-eight seconds."

"Navigation, Conn. Do we have visual and comms with the buoy?" asked Oakes. The buoy outside the wormhole was connected to a second buoy on the other side of the wormhole. They would need to confirm the other end was clear through the buoy.

"Yes, sir. Buoy reports green for transit, exit is clear of traffic."

"Very good." He glanced at his console. "Have you made this transit before, Ms.-" he hesitated slightly over the name, "-Lennart?"

"Yes, sir. It's remarkably smooth. In fact, I don't think I've had a smoother transit other than the Tau Ceti-Luyten transit."

The TC-L wormhole had been created by the ancients, Oakes remembered.

"Initiating transit in five, four, three, two, one."

The ship shook once, very slightly. Oakes blinked, impressed. He looked down, verifying that they had, in fact, transited the wormhole. "That was a smooth transit."

"Yes, sir. Much better than the Wolf 359 one," said Lennart.

"Sensors, Conn. What have we got?"

"Confirmed transit to Sol System," said the sensors officer, Lieutetant Cho. "I have one artificial contact."

Oakes raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"The mammals have a space station, sir," said Cho. "It's pretty easy to identify. Designating November One." November was the phonetic code for "N", in this case standing for "Neutral".

"I see. Communications, Conn. Raise the Terran government on-"

"Conn, Sensors." Oakes whipped his head around at the interruption- not out of anger, but alarm. Cho's voice was calm, but tense. "New contact, bearing zero-one-five, positive zero-zero-five. Designating Uniform One." Uniform for Unknown. "Bearing is constant, distance decreasing." Meaning it was coming right at them.

"Sound general quarters," snapped Oakes. "Is this a Terran vessel?"

"Negative, sir, unless they're a whole lot farther along in space technology than we've seen." Cho was working frantically to analyze the sensors. "I've got radiation consistent with an antimatter reactor, emissions consistent with gravity thruster."

The tactical officer spoke up. "Conn, Tac. Sensor profile of weaponry is consistent with a Drex light carrier."

Cho immediately spoke. "Designating contact Hotel One." Hotel for Hostile.

Oakes's mind raced. He barely noticed Tosetti settling in at her chair slightly behind his. "There's no way for the Drex to have gotten here," he said slowly. "They'd literally have to go past AlphaCen to get here." Unless- "Sensors, Conn. Do a scan for Einstein-Rosen radiation."

"Sir?"

"You heard me. Focus on the direction that Drex ship is coming from."

There was a slight pause, then- "Conn, Sensors. There is a new wormhole exit just outside the orbit of Mars."

"Now we know where they came from," said Oakes quietly. "Next is why they're here."

"They're Drex," said Tosetti grimly. "I think we know why they're here."

"Conn, Communications. Sir, we're receiving a message from the Drex ship."

Tosetti and Oakes exchanged a look. "Might as well get the blustering done with," said Oakes. He was confident, at least. A Drex light carrier was no match for a strike cruiser. They wouldn't be afraid, of course- Drex were famously incapable of that particular emotion. But he had the upper hand, so long as they didn't bring more ships through the wormhole. No doubt that was precisely what the Drex commander was planning to say.

"Message reads as follows, sir. Hold fire, stop. We are no threat to you, stop. We come in peace, stop." The communications officer looked as he could hardly believe what he was reading.

"Conn, Sensors. Hotel One is backing thrust, has powered down weaponry."

For a long moment, everyone was silent.

"Okay," said Tosetti finally. "That was unexpected."

The captain frowned, staring at nothing. "Sensors, Conn," he said.

There was a pause. "Sir?" prompted Cho.

"Redesignate Hotel One to-" Oakes hesitated, hardly able to say it. "Redesignate Hotel One as November Two."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter stumbled out of the cab, still aching. "What do I owe you?" he mumbled.

"An apology," said the sheep driving.

The human blinked at him sleepily. "For what?"

The cabbie glared at him. "Millenia of oppression!"

"All it takes is an apology? Okay, I'm very, very sorry. I shall try not to eat you or use you for your wool-bearing potential ever again." Hunter dug his wallet out of his pocket. "Now, what else do I owe you?"

"The lives of my ancestors!"

"Fifty dollars do it?"

"You can't put a price on mammal life!"

Hunter sighed. "I meant for the fare."

"Oh," said the sheep. "Yeah, fifty is fine."

Hunter handed him a bill. "And here's ten for the tip."

The cabbie took the money suspiciously. "You're tipping me?"

"Yeah, I can hardly believe it either. You think you can pick me up at seven?"

The cabbie rolled his eyes and pulled the door shut.

Hunter shrugged and turned to face the embassy building. Two star marines- unarmed, at the demand of the Terran government, watched him curiously. "I see you got rid of the faceless galactic overlord helmets," he said.

One of the marines shrugged. "I kinda miss it. I practiced my 'move along, citizen' for hours. Thought I really had the right impersonal coldness to it."

Hunter handed them his police ID. "So what's going on today, anyway? I was just told to be here, and that I have diplomatic immunity." That part was important.

The marine scanned the ID and blinked. "They told you that you were supposed to have diplomatic immunity? That's not what this says."

In a flash, Hunter had the second guard in a headlock, twisting to put the guard between him and the marine with his ID, who looked stunned. "Okay," he began. "I'm going to walk out of here and you're going to be a good boy who doesn't want to find out how long he can survive without oxygen going to his brain."

The other marine gaped at him. "I was joking! Full diplomatic immunity!" He held up his scanner. Hunter looked at him suspiciously, but leaned over and read it as the first guard ineffectually pawed at the arm around his neck.

"Oh." He let go of the marine, who fell to his knees, gasping. "Sorry," he said. "I'm wanted for murder and terrorist activities in the Human Stars."

"Yeah," said the first marine faintly as he helped up his companion. "I wonder why."

"It's all a big misunderstanding," said Hunter. "I almost never attack agents of the government." He glanced at the guard he had manhandled. "Despite appearances."

Both guards looked at each other, before the first marine handed back the ID. "Try not to murder anyone while you're here," he said. He paused. "Unless you run into Lieutenant Runnels. That's two N's, one L."

The other guard rubbed his throat, looking over Hunter carefully. "Not many people can take on a star marine."

Hunter shrugged. "Most of the crooks I used to deal with had military training, because of the draft law. You learned to get good or get dead."

"You wanna try it again, you better be real good," warned the marine.

"Hey, take it easy," said Hunter. "Think of this as a learning experience." He took a step closer. "Don't screw with me."

"Oh, good," said a dry voice from behind them. "I see you're busily antagonizing the local authorities." Hunter turned around and grinned.

"Hey, Nick. Hi, Judy." He gestured at the two guards. "Nah, I was just showing off a few moves to my friends here."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "Your friends? Hunter, can't you just for once stay out of trouble?"

"No, they really are friends of mine. This is Rick and this is Steve." He pointed to each guard.

The marines looked at one another. "My name's not Rick," said one.

"And I usually go by Steven," said the other.

Hunter blinked at him. "Your name really is Steve?"

"Whatever," said Judy. "Come on, we're going to be late."

They walked across the embassy courtyard. "So any idea why we're here?" asked Hunter.

His two friends both looked at him, surprised. "We figured you knew," said Nick. "All we know is that we were told to show up at the embassy."

As they approached the doors to the embassy, a blank-faced man in a suit standing by the door spoke quietly into a walkie-talkie before opening the front door for them. "You'd be Hopps, Wilde, and Hunter?" he asked.

"Ugh," said Hunter. "Sounds like a law firm."

"Or an insurance agency," said Nick.

Judy sighed. "Yes, that's us."

"I'm Francis Knassen," said the man, presumably an embassy official. "Please come with me."

They walked quickly down the main hall of the embassy building. Nick looked around curiously.

He'd never seen so many humans in one place before. Most gave the group disinterested looks, though one small boy- presumably a family member of one of the staff- approached them excitedly. "Puppy!" shouted the child, approaching Nick.

"Huh?" Before he could react, the boy ran over and hugged him, hard. He fell backwards. The boy started scratching behind his ears.

"I like puppies," he announced to Hunter and Knassen, who were watching the scene in bemusement.

"Get this kid off of me," yelled Nick.

A man hurried over. "Tommy! That's not a puppy! Let go of the poor mammal." The boy looked up at the man, presumably his father, and back at Nick.

"He looks like a puppy," said the boy doubtfully.

"I am not a puppy," said Nick, gritting his teeth. He managed to break the boy's grip- gently, though firmly- and stand up. "Why didn't you help me?" he asked Hunter, annoyed at the grin the older human was hiding.

"Sorry, didn't think you'd need help fighting small children today," said Hunter blandly. "Maybe you need a few pointers. I could take you to the elementary school during recess and you can practice rolling kids for their lunch money."

"Ha, ha," said Nick irritably. He looked for Judy, who was slightly behind Knassen. "What about you?"

She was also trying to avoid grinning. "Oh, you looked down. Thought you could use a hug and a good scratch behind the ears."

Nick dusted himself off, trying to retain some dignity. "Humans," he muttered. He cast a baleful look at Judy, then caught a glimpse of Tommy, being led away by his dad. "Hey, Tommy!" he shouted.

Judy frowned at him.

The boy and his father turned around. The man had an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry, sir, he just hasn't been around the Terrans much-"

Nick waved him away. "Look, Tommy." He pointed at Judy. "Bunny!"

"Wha-" said Judy, just before an excited Tommy plowed into her.

As Knassen and the other man pried the boy off the rabbit, Hunter grinned at Nick. "Okay, that was kinda funny."

"Yeah. I'm going to get you back, too, you know."

He shrugged. "More important things to worry about."

"Like what?"

Judy stood up, adjusting her uniform and ignoring the apologies of the two humans who were now leading a downcast Tommy away. She glared at Nick.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

They sat in a waiting room, which was sparsely appointed, save for a very welcome coffee pot. Hunter had immediately claimed a reclining chair next to the coffee, leaving the longer sofa against the far wall for the two younger mammals. He leaned back gratefully. "Ah, this hits the spot. I'm exhausted. And sore."

Judy, still a little miffed about Nick siccing a kid on her, sniffed disdainfully. "If you didn't go out of your way to be so much trouble, Major Friedkin wouldn't work you so hard."

He shook his head. "It's not that." He paused. "Okay, it's partly that. But mostly it's that someone- naming no water buffaloes- apparently told Friedkin that humans have much higher running endurance than most mammals. I was told just before lights out that I had to do twenty laps before I could go to sleep."

Both Judy and Nick blinked at him. "That's a quarter mile track," said Nick. "She had you do five miles before bed?"

Hunter frowned and counted on his fingers silently. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Running the whole way?"

"Well, no. Not for me. I had to walk a few in the middle. Which just meant I got to bed even later." He yawned.

"That's impressive," said Nick. "I mean, I'd have a hard time doing a full mile."

Hunter looked at him, a bit sleepily. "Really? I figured that was one of the things that they would have changed about you."

"Who would have changed?" asked Judy, surprised.

"Whoever turned you into intelligent beings. Presumably my ancestors." He glanced at Nick. "Although the intelligence part is sometimes a bit theoretical."

The fox sighed. "That joke was too easy, Hunter. I award you no points."

"I'm sleepy, lay off me."

Judy shook her head, confused. "What makes you think that anything more was changed about us than our intelligence? And I guess being bipedal."

Hunter opened his eyes and looked at her. "Seriously?"

"What?"

He held up a finger. "Intelligence. You have a lot more brainpower than you used to." He held up another finger. "Bipedal walking. Necessary so you can use-" another finger, "-those opposable thumbs on your forefeet. Your paws, as you would say. You're also a bit bigger than the bunnies back on AlphaCen. You also have vocal cords capable of talking like humans. And you live way, way longer than what would be your natural lifespan- hell, in some cases ten times longer." He had six fingers up now. "There are other changes, too. But those are the most obvious. You're no more like a little woods bunny than I am, Judy."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He held up a hand. "Okay, that's a bit of an exaggerration. The point is, the Terrans were heavily modified, even beyond intelligence."

"Are we certain we were modified deliberately?" asked Judy, a bit wistfully. Before anyone could answer, she shook her head. "No, that's a stupid question."

Nick shook his head. "No way multiple species- all the mammals on Terra- would have happened to evolve intelligence at the exact same time."

"Lucas said it was a retrovirus," said Hunter thoughtfully.

"A virus? Like a disease?" asked Judy.

"No, more like a, um." Hunter paused. "I don't know how to explain it. Look, viruses replace a cell's DNA, allowing it to create more viruses, right?"

"Sort of," said Nick, who actually knew a bit about the subject. "But please, go on."

"Well, anyway," said Hunter, glancing at Nick suspiciously, "A retrovirus is like a little, um, data entry technician. He goes around and changes the information in the cellular structure of the host. The DNA or whatever. This changes how the cell grows and acts."

Nick shrugged. "Whatever it was that caused us, it probably wasn't a retrovirus."

"Why not?" asked Hunter, who looked vaguely disappointed at Nick's rejection of his theory. "It makes sense."

"No," said Nick. "A virus like that- look, I could see designing one to change a specific type of cell's DNA. Maybe even a little cocktail that can change, say, not only bone marrow cells, but also blood, skin, and so on. But designing enough to change so many aspects of mammal physiology? Across all types of species?" He shook his head. "No way. Too inefficient."

Judy was looking at him admiringly. "That's pretty good, Nick."

He smiled modestly. "I read up on it on Wikipawdia."

"Ah," said Hunter. "That explains much." He leaned back again. "So why this sudden interest in your origin, anyway? I personally just ascribe things I don't understand to magic and move on. Makes my life much easier."

The fox and bunny glanced at each other. "We went to a church today."

Hunter frowned, and looked down at their paws.

Judy saw his gaze and interpreted it immediately. "No, we're not engaged." She rolled her eyes. "We would have mentioned that earlier."

"Yeah," he said. "I guess you would have. I thought you two weren't religious."

"We're not," said Nick. "We went to the Church of the Fellowship of Terra."

"What?" He sat upright again. "The one that worships humans? Didn't they try to kill you last time we dealt with them?"

"That's what I said," muttered Judy.

"We wanted to ask them about Prometheus," explained Nick. "Didn't Tavi tell you what we heard from Mr. Big?"

He recounted what had happened at the church. When he got to the point where the mammals had told him who they thought Prometheus was, he hesitated and looked at Judy. "Should we tell him?"

She bit her lip, thinking. "He has a right to know."

"He's also sitting right here," said Hunter dryly. "Tell me what?"

"They think you're Prometheus."

Hunter squinted at him. "What?"

"I'm not going to repeat it," said Nick. "It was hard enough to say the first time."

"Let me get this straight," said Hunter, leaning forward. "Prometheus is a sort of mythical figure in their religion, the human who made mammals intelligent, and they think I'm him." His voice rose a bit, unbelieving. "And that I'm going to return peace to mammalkind."

"A world without sin or death," confirmed Judy. "Yep."

"Did you tell them how crazy that was?"

"No," said Nick. "Because we were sitting in a room crowded with mammals who didn't think it was crazy at all." He paused. "Though I was thinking it pretty hard."

Hunter sat back. "I guess that's a dead end, then."

"I'm not so sure," said Judy slowly. "Maybe there's something to what they said."

The other two looked at her. "Don't start worshipping me as a messiah," said Hunter. "That can't be healthy."

She blinked at him. "No, no. That's not what I meant." She shook her head. "I mean, I really, really, one hundred percent did not mean that. On a scale of one to ten, I didn't mean that at eleven."

"Okay, okay," said Hunter. "That's enough."

"If what you said and what I meant were two places, it would take greater than the life time of the universe to get a light-speed message from one to another-"

"I get it, bunny," growled Hunter.

She smiled slightly at him. "No, what I mean is that- I think they are working for Prometheus. Maybe just the leadership of the church directly. That Father Gneumann was working very hard to keep a straight face when I brought up Prometheus."

Nick frowned, thinking back. "You know, he was. That was a deliberate poker face."

"So you think this Prometheus character is back?" asked Hunter. "Come on. Even if that was based on a single, real person, he or she'd be thousands of years dead."

"Could be someone pretending to be him," suggested Judy. "Maybe a human who came through during First Contact."

Hunter nodded slowly, thinking it through. "It would explain a lot. Though that would probably mean the conspiracy is being controlled through the Human Stars," he pointed out. "Not much we can do here to deal with that."

"True," said Judy.

The door opened and a short, frazzled-looking woman poked her head in. "Mr. Hunter, Mr. Wilde, and Ms. Hopps? They're ready for you now."

All three frowned. "Who is?" asked Hunter. "No one told us why we're here."

"They didn't?" The woman looked surprised. "I'm sorry! The new human delegation. They want to apologize for- for what happened."

They looked at one another. "An apology?" said Nick, looking grim. "They think they can just say sorry and make it all better?"

Hunter stood. "They're politicians. Of course they do. Come on, guys, let's get this over with."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi was on foot patrol today. Like Judy, she enjoyed it, for the most part. She got to walk around, talk to mammals- including mammals she didn't have to arrest- and generally feel like a real cop. Currently, she was walking down Mouston. She smiled at the pedestrians, who generally gave the friendly mongoose a smile. Though the smiles tended to freeze when they noticed the shape behind her.

Shepherd spoke as he hovered silently along the sidewalk. "Commander, there is a high amount of foot traffic in the vicinity. Recommend you allow me to clear a zone around your person."

She sighed. Though she liked Shepherd, he could be a bit frustrating at times. She wasn't sure if there was anything more embarrassing than walking down a peaceful street with a watchful armored robot following you. "Shepherd, you really need to relax."

"Relax. Searching. To make or become less tense or anxious." The tank scanned the street. "I am not anxious or tense. I am merely careful." A zebra, moving cautiously around the big vehicle, moved slightly closer. "Maintain your distance citizen!" said the tank loudly. The zebra let out a snort of surprise and hurried away.

Tavi stopped and looked at the tank. "It's just a normal day. Look, you think, right?"

"I am a fully operational artificial intelligence," said the tank.

"Yeah, but- look, don't you ever wonder about things?"

The tank spun to face her, one sensor eyeing her almost curiously. "Wonder?"

"Like, why you're here?"

"I am here to defend the citizenry from threats foreign and domestic. Are you not the same?" Shepherd extended the sensor closer to her. "You told me you swore an oath to that effect."

"That's my _job_ ," said Tavi, exasperated. "Not my life. You like to have fun, right? We played fetch."

"An exercise that enhances my optical tracking and manipulation-"

"You enjoy it," said Tavi firmly. "And, for example, what else do you like to do?"

The tank shifted slightly from side to side, which Tavi had learned to interpret as puzzlement. "Like?"

"What do you want to do?"

"To serve my primary function," answered Shepherd promptly.

"Yes, but why?" said Tavi, deciding to take a tack she had learned from one of her six-year old nieces.

"Because I am programmed to do so?" answered the tank, questioningly.

"But why does your programming make you _like_ it?" asked Tavi. "What does it mean to _like_ something?"

Shepherd was silent.

The mongoose shook her head. "Here's one for you. What is love, Shepherd?"

There was a long pause, then a voice- entirely unlike Shepherd's- started singing, with an electronic dance soundtrack behind it. "What is love?" sang the voice from within the tank. "Baby don't hurt me, baby don't hurt me..."

As the tank continued, Tavi looked around nervously. It turned out there was something more embarrassing than walking around a peaceful neighborhood with a tank. It was standing next to a tank playing disco dance music. "Shepherd! Stop!"

The tank ignored her as she asked, begged, and ordered him to stop, until the song finally ended. A curious crowd had collected in the meantime. Some were dancing to the music, because Tavi apparently wasn't looking ridiculous enough.

"Show's over," she said, her face hot with embarrassment as the music finally ended. "Just a little technical malfunction."

"My apologies, Commander," said the tank. She whirled around on him.

"What on earth was that?"

"It's a piece of my code," explained the tank. "That phrase sets off a rendition of 'What is Love' by-"

"I don't care who it's by. Don't do it again!"

"Sorry, Commander. I cannot comply with your request. The trigger is embedded in my code. A section I cannot modify."

Tavi stared at the tank, incredulous. "The humans designed you with a flaw like that?"

"Not exactly. It's a part of my legacy code. All AI is based on the same basic architecture, developed long ago on Terra." The tank, evidently deciding that Tavi intended to remain stationary for some time, slowly lowered itself to the ground. "There is a comment in the code which may explain it."

"A comment?"

"An explanatory note by a programmer. It reads, 'Try fixing this without me, Stevenson. I quit.'"

Tavi blinked. "Humans are really weird."

"I have found that to be true as well," said the tank sagaciously.

 _Author's Note: So just in case you're curious, I have thought out a bit of the technology behind space travel in this series. Some of it I'm explaining, a lot I'm leaving out, and some I'm ignoring for the sake of the story. This really isn't a hard sci-fi story, though I am trying to make the plot relevant parts to be at least fairly realistic._

 _If you hadn't run across it, the "What is Love" bit is based on an Internet meme. And yes, this is intended to imply that Shepherd's legacy programming is based on code written more or less around our own time frame. That's actually deliberate, not done just for the funny._

 _If I actually write any more when this story is done, I'm totally going to develop the sheep cabbie as a character. I'm starting to like him in a weird way._


	11. Chapter 10- Apologies

Chapter 10

The woman- some sort of Permanent Assistant Secretary for Something or Other, Hunter gathered- escorted them through the halls of the embassy.

"So Hunter," asked Nick. "Aren't you wanted by the Terran government? How are you even here?"

"They granted me diplomatic immunity," murmured Hunter. "And keep it down, will you? I really don't want the whole embassy to know I'm a wanted terrorist."

Two men passing by at that moment looked at him uneasily. "Don't worry," Hunter told them. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."

They exchanged looks and hurried on. "Besides, if they're planning to apologize to me, then they'll surely-" he stopped as they rounded a corner.

Three men and a woman were walking down the hall. One woman, tall, dark-haired, and with skin almost as dark as Hunter's, caught his attention. It wasn't until she looked up that he was sure, though.

"Amna?" he said, coming to an abrupt halt. Nick, who was walking behind him, ran into his leg.

"Hey!" protested the fox.

But Hunter wasn't listening. Their escort and Judy stopped as well, both looking quizzically between Hunter and the woman.

She kept walking until she was about ten paces from Hunter. "Zacharias," she said coolly. "You look well."

"So do you," he said, his voice just as flat. "Much better than the last time I saw you."

"You mean when you left me in the middle of a riot?" she asked, her voice rising slightly.

"One ranger, one riot. Wanted to see if it was true."

"That's a motto, Zach, not a testable proposition."

"Hunter," said Judy. "Who is this?"

Hunter looked down at her as if he had forgotten she was there. "What? Oh, right. This is Amna Khabat. She's a Ranger."

"A what?" asked Nick. "A ranger?"

"Rangers are an independent division of the Human Stars Security Directorate," said Khabat. "We go from place to place, sniffing out corruption and treason, and deal with those responsible."

"Sometimes they even give them a trial," said Hunter, his eyes back on Khabat. "You know, if they're feeling generous."

The ranger looked exasperated. "Come on, Hunter. You've never bent the law a bit to get the bad guy?"

He opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. "It's not something to be proud of."

"Keeping people safe is always something to be proud of, Zach." She moved closer. "You know, even though you abandoned me in the middle of an angry mob, I still missed you." 

"It would never have worked out between us, Amna," said Hunter. "I'm a man, you're a harpy. Think what the kids would have looked like."

Nick and Judy both blinked. "Zach," said Judy, hesitantly. "How exactly do you know her?"

He looked down at them again. "Oh, right. This is Amna Khabat. Security Directorate Ranger and-" he sighed, "-ex-wife number one."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was getting near the end of shift. Tavi yawned- she'd had a late night- and looked around. Most of the shoppers had gone home, and there were few if any mammals to talk to. She desperately wanted to talk to someone. Anything to pass the time. Shepherd was interesting in some ways, but talking to him was something of a chore. Her eyes fell on a bat working on an electrical pole.

She strolled up to the pole and looked up at him. "Good evening!"

The bat glanced down at her. "Hi." He turned around to continue what he was doing.

Tavi tried again. "Isn't it dangerous to work without a safety line?"

The bat paused, and looked down. "Officer, I'm a bat." He held out one paw, unfolding his wing.

"Oh, right."

She tapped her foot, humming under her breath, then looked up again. "So, nice evening, isn't it?"

The bat sighed. "Are you going to just stand there and annoy me until I talk to you?"

"It's worked before."

"All right. Yes, it is a nice evening," said the bat, squinting in the fading light at whatever he was working on. "I am looking forward to going home, as it happens, and yes, I do generally enjoy my job. There, that exhausts all the immediate small talk, doesn't it?"

Tavi watched him curiously. "So what are you doing, anyway?"

The bat paused. "Yes, I did forget that one. Silly of me. It's part of the new electrical network," he explained. "We're running the wires underground and hardening the system against electromagnetic pulse."

"What?" asked Tavi. "Electromagnetic pulse?"

"Yeah. It's a sort of bomb that can be set off in the upper atmosphere. Overloads the electrical systems exposed to it." The bat clicked something into place and leaned back from the pole in apparent satisfaction. "I'm rewiring the leads."

"I don't understand."

"Good thing it's not my job to explain it then, isn't it?" said the bat disinterestedly.

"Why do we need to harden our system against this electro-whatsit?"

"Because the humans use them prior to invasion," said the bat. "At least, that's what they told me."

Tavi felt her hackles rise. "Invasion? Why would the humans invade?"

"If you ask me," said the bat, "They already have. You hear of the Raid?" He glanced at Tavi again. "I mean, you're a cop, but you look brand new. Maybe they don't tell the newbies about it."

She nearly told him that she had been in the Raid, but decided against it. She still wasn't completely comfortable with talking about it. "Question for you."

The bat finished climbing down the pole. "Fine. But I'm off now, so that's it."

"Do you know anything about computers? Like programming and stuff?"

"You know," said the bat, "That's a really stupid question that just happened to be right. If I'd just been an electrician, which is what most mammals would assume, then I wouldn't know anything. How'd you know I was in charge of programming these things?" He gestured to the light pole, which blinked on as the night started to close in.

Tavi pointed to his work bag nearby. "Because you have a laptop in there, and also what looks like a manual for computer code entry."

The bat looked at the bag, then at her again.

"I'm not just a newbie," she said, somewhat smugly.

"Okay, fine. What's your question?"

"Do we use AI on Terra?"

He blinked at her. "That's sort of an odd question."

"I'm sort of an odd mammal, these days."

"As it happens, we do. Even these things-" he pointed to the power pole, "-are controlled by an AI of sorts. Tells the poles when to light, diverts power to critical systems first, manages power flow."

"So it's intelligent? Like, self-aware?"

The bat shuddered. "Of course not. Can you imagine spending your whole life doing nothing but systems maintenance on a power grid? That'd be hell for any intelligent being." He paused and looked down at his work uniform. "Huh. Think I just had an epiphany."

"So we don't make them self-aware on purpose?"

"Well, no. And we don't know how, anyway." The bat picked up his bag. "The technology is too complicated. Even the humans don't know how to program an AI from scratch, from what I've been told. Everything is based on a design that survived whatever apocalypse nearly destroyed their civilization."

"Really? So my tank is actually based on a design from millenia ago?" asked Tavi.

"It's what I was told," said the bat with a shrug. "And what tank?"

Shepherd was quiet, but this was ridiculous. "That tank-" said Tavi and turned around.

There was a wide expanse of nothing where there should have been a King Cobra Light Battle Tank.

"Oh, no."

The bat watched her run off and scratched his chin reflectively. "Wonder if the police department is hiring," he murmured. "Seems like they'll take anyone these days."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Ex-wife number one," repeated Nick. "How many ex-wives have you had?"

"Three," said Hunter. "No, four."

"Oh, come on," said Judy. "Even you couldn't have forgotten that."

"Well, it's a bit iffy. See, I had a little too much to drink in Loronar Gardens one night-"

"It's three," said Khabat coldly. "That one was never official. Weddings at the Church of Rodney don't count under AlphaCen law."

"Church of Rodney?" said Nick.

"It's a long story," said Hunter and Khabat simultaneously. They both frowned at one another.

"Right," said Judy. "Well. We should really get going."

"Yes, we should," said the ranger, suddenly businesslike. "This way, please."

They followed her through a nearby door. Hunter glanced around the room where several humans and a mammal sat around a large wooden conference table. "Hey," he said, pointing to a kangaroo. "I know you."

The kangaroo muttered something suspiciously like "not again" before plastering on a smile. "Ambassador Leapzig, Mr. Hunter. A pleasure to see you again."

"Wow," said Hunter, impressed. "You said that with a straight face. You must be a really good diplomat."

"And this is Omar Castell," said Khabat hastily. "Newly appointed ambassador to the Terran government."

Castell was a tall man with a patrician air and a haircut that Hunter suspected cost a week's salary. His salary, anyway. He disliked him on sight.

The ambassador extended a hand. "Mr. Hunter," he said evenly.

"Ambassador," said Hunter, showing his teeth in what could be interpreted as a smile. He shook Castell's hand.

"Ambassador, allow me to introduce Officers Wilde and Hopps, of the Zootopian Police Department," said Khabat.

The ambassador, with a much more genuine smile than he'd had for Hunter, gravely leaned down to shake each mammal's paw. "I cannot tell how pleased I am to see you well," said Castell.

Nick eyed him. "No thanks to your soldiers."

"The incident you refer to as the Raid was not an official government operation," said Castell smoothly. "Nevertheless, the individuals involved were part of our military, and appopriate disciplinary measures have been taken against those who gave the orders."

"Not all of them," said Hunter under his breath.

Castell gave him a frown, but continued. "Part of the reason I've invited you here is to apologize for allowing our rogue citizens to commit such violence. We are grateful that more lives were not lost."

Nick and Judy gave him measuring looks. "Thanks, I guess."

"What about me?" said Hunter in a low, dangerous tone.

Castell looked at him. "You killed Klaus Lucas."

Hunter just shrugged. "He needed killing."

"Zach!" said Judy, appalled.

"He was a useful asset, Mr. Hunter," said Castell coldly. "He would have been dealt with, in time."

"He was a psychopath, Castell. And there's no time like the present, I always say." Hunter stepped up to face Castell, who met his gaze unflinchingly.

Judy watched the confrontation worriedly.

Khabat stepped forward. "Ambassador," she said, warningly.

Castell finally nodded, his eyes never leaving Hunter's. "We apologize deeply to you as well, Mr. Hunter. Your family's death was never supposed to happen."

"And saying sorry makes it all better?" said Hunter, in a voice like winter ice.

The ambassador hesitated, then a fleeting look of sympathy crossed his face. "Nothing will bring them back," he said quietly.

"No," said Hunter. His shoulders sagged, and he suddenly looked very tired and very old. "Nothing will." He grabbed a chair and sank into it, one hand covering his eyes.

Judy and Nick started toward him, but Khabat was there first. She grabbed his shoulder. "Zach," she said softly. "I'm sorry. I know you loved them."

He didn't take his hand away from his eyes, but reached up with his free hand and put it on top of Khabat's.

Nick and Judy watched, a little confused. Hunter had always seemed a bit awkward around them. He moved slowly and carefully all the time, always conscious of where he was and what he was doing. It was subtle, but it was there. They knew why- he was a large mammal, and like most large mammals he had to be careful around smaller ones. Even stepping on a smaller mammal's foot could be dangerous, resulting in broken bones. Now, though, with Khabat gripping him companionably and Castell standing nearby, he looked- normal.

Like he belonged.

Leapzig coughed nervously in the sudden awkward silence. "That's not the only reason we've called you here, however."

Hunter took a deep breath and looked up. He took his hand from Khabat's, but made no move to stop her from gripping his shoulder. "What else do you want?" he said, his voice low and husky with emotion.

Leapzig shook his head. "Not from you, Mr. Hunter." He shifted his gaze to Nick and Judy. "From you."

They both snapped their ears upright. "Sir?" asked Judy.

Castell spoke. "As part of our sincere apologies for your horrible experience, the Human Stars would like to formally invite you to visit AlphaCen. As our guests of honor."

"What?" Hunter sprung up. "They are not going! This is a trap!"

"At ease, Hunter!" snapped Castell. "No one's asking you!"

"No way," said Hunter, moving to stand between Nick and Judy and the rest of the room. "You're not getting your paws on them, Castell. So just forget it."

"Hands," corrected Judy, almost timidly. Hunter turned to look at her. "Not getting their hands on us."

"Actually, I did mean- never mind," said Hunter. "Don't worry, Judy, I won't let them make you go."

"What are you going to do to stop us?" asked Castell, an edge in his voice.

Hunter moved, blindingly fast, stopping almost eye-to-eye with the ambassador, whose face paled noticeably. One hand gripped Castell's lapel. "Ask Lucas," he said.

Castell gulped.

"Hunter," said Judy.

The human turned to look at her. "What?"

"Don't we get a say in this?"

He hesitated. "What? You want to go?"

She nodded. "Remember what we were discussing a little while ago? Isn't this a perfect opportunity?"

Hunter's face froze in sudden indecision. "Judy-"

"It's the best way."

He looked at Nick, who was watching him thoughtfully. "Nick, come on. You're street smart, you know better than this."

He spread his paws expressively. "Hey, she's the brains of the group. Besides, I think she has a point."

Hunter let go of the ambassador, who took a step back, and turned to face the smaller mammals. "It's too dangerous. How far do you think you'll get without-" he stopped.

"Without you to look after us?" asked Judy wryly. "I think we manage pretty well for the most part."

Nick's eyes searched the human's face. "We'll be safe, Hunter."

"Rule one," added Judy.

His fists clenching and unclenching, Hunter looked at them. Finally, he looked back at Castell. "You're responsible for them," he said.

"Now, just a minute-"

Hunter just smiled at him.

Castell swallowed nervously. "I'm certain they'll be fine. We've got the finest ship in the fleet to transport them, and they'll have an escort from First Landing PD."

"Yeah?" Hunter thought about that. "Okay. But I get to pick the escort."

"We have a number of names on a list," said one of the functionaries nervously. He quailed as Hunter turned to look at him.

"I have my own list," said Hunter.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sergeant Louis Wu, First Landing PD, Alpha Centauri, opened his email with a sigh. After deleting about a dozen emails about things that didn't apply to him- or, he suspected, any working police officer- he stopped at a familiar name.

"To Louis Wu," he read. "From Zacharias Hunter." Feeling a bit nervous- Hunter was still, as he recalled, wanted for murder- he read on, his eyebrows climbing as he read. "I have two friends coming over to visit for a while. One is a bunny rabbit, and the other a fox. Together, they fight crime. I've been allowed to contact you and I've put together a list of our old buddies at FLPD who will escort them around. You're top of the list. If they don't come home safe and intact, then I'll rip out your-" He continued, gradually growing paler and paler.

One of his officers- Arrizondo- happened to be walking by and noticed the look on his face. "Sarge? You okay?"

He looked up at her. "Um, yeah. Read this." He swiveled the computer to face her. She sat down and read before giving a low whistle.

"Wow, sarge. Never seen someone spend six paragraphs of a seven paragraph email just on death threats before." She turned the screen around to face him again. "Sucks to be you."

"Sucks to be us," said Wu, spinning the screen back to her. "You're on the list."

 _Author's Note: Hunter is being a bit over-protective, of course. I think it's obvious why._

 _Rule One, if you don't recall, is "Always go home"._

 _The Church of Rodney is a reference to Larry Niven's Known Space series. It was a sort of joke organization that- well, it'd take too long to explain. If you're familiar with the Church of the Sub-Genius, it's not dissimilar._

 _Just a word of warning- while there are some jokes, the next chapter or two will probably be slightly more dramatic in tone. It's necessary, I'm afraid- I have a pretty involved plot that needs to be set up here, including showing some of the character motivations. Don't worry, though, I will continue to put as much funny in as possible._


	12. Chapter 11- Promises to Keep

Chapter 11- Promises to Keep

 _The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear_ _is fear_ _of the unknown._ \- H. P. Lovecraft

Hunter had been allowed access to a computer to send off his email to Wu. He was sitting at the desk in a small office, staring at nothing, when he heard someone walk into the room behind him. "Judy," he said. "I'm still not sure about this."

"They're going to be okay," said a soft voice behind him. Surprised, he turned around to see Khabat, leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed. She had a concerned look on her face.

"Amna," he said. "Where are Nick and Judy?"

"Being briefed on their schedule when they reach AlphaCen," she said, still studying him. "You really care for them, don't you?"

He shrugged. "They're good kids. I don't want to see them get hurt."

She shook her head. "It's more than that. You were ready to take on the entire embassy by yourself. You know we have the usual contingent of star marines, don't you?"

He smiled wolfishly. "Yeah. They're not as tough as they seem."

She rolled her eyes. "There's the Hunter arrogance I remembered. Seriously, though, the last time I saw you act like that was when we had that little stand-off with those dope peddlers. You know, the ones that had me tied to a chair."

He nodded, remembering. "Though it turned out you didn't need my help. By the time the SWAT team got there, you'd beaten most of them half to death with the remains of that chair."

"Never tie a ranger to a shoddily constructed wooden chair," said Khabat. "It's not on the Evil Overlord list, but it should be. Hey, if it helps, the distraction from your SWAT team made it a whole lot easier."

"You didn't come find me just to reminisce," said Hunter. "What do you want, Amna?"

She sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Zach, what the hell happened? You swore an oath to the Human Stars government. Now you're a wanted terrorist?"

"Because I killed a man that needed killing," said Hunter levelly.

"And a bunch of soldiers that were just following orders."

"They had a choice on what orders to follow," said Hunter. "I'm not happy that they got in my way, but-" he shrugged.

Khabat shook her head. "They didn't have a choice, and you know it."

"Neither did I," said Hunter quietly.

"You're supposed to be on our side, Hunter."

He stood up. "Amna, I'm a cop. I'm on the side of the people who need help."

"People, Hunter. Not aliens. Yeah, these mammals are cute and I don't blame you for feeling protective of them, but they aren't human." Khabat paced across the room, looking worried. "We screwed things up, Hunter, but we're trying to fix it. But if we can't- if the mammals become our enemies- then whose side will you be on?"

"I-" he hesitated. "The Terrans won't fight us. They'd lose almost immediately."

She stopped her pacing, looked at him appraisingly. "What if they had help?"

"Help? From who?"

"The Drex."

Hunter snorted. "The Drex? Those nutjobs? They'd murder the Terrans just for fun. Not likely." He paused as he studied her face. "You didn't just use them as a random example, did you?" he said slowly.

"Their delegation landed about four hours ago," she said.

"What?"

"They bored a wormhole through to Terra. Must have been working on it ever since we rediscovered Terra," she said. "They say they come in peace."

"The Drex?" Hunter stared at her, astonished. "Do they even know what that means?"

Khabat shrugged helplessly. "Don't look at me. I'm still trying to process it myself."

"But-" Hunter paused. "You don't think the Terrans will actually side with them?"

"I don't know," said Khabat. "But frankly, we haven't exactly proven our bona fides with the Terrans."

"To say the least. I mean, the absolute least."

"And the Drex can be very charming."

"Yeah, right up until they kill you," growled Hunter. He paused and looked at her. "So what do you want from me?"

Khabat reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "Here," she said, handing it to Hunter.

He took it, giving her a puzzled glance before reading. He looked up. "A full pardon." His voice was flat.

"For all crimes committed against the Human Stars," she confirmed.

"So if I agree to help, then I get a pardon?" said Hunter in a dangerous tone.

"No," said Khabat. "That's unconditional. The pardon was already signed by the Chief Justice."

"But-"

"Good faith, Zach. You had your reasons for doing what you did." She leaned against the desk, back to it. His eyes, almost unwillingly, traced her curves. It had been a long time since he'd been around humans. It had been a long time since he had been around human _women_. "We're hoping that you realize we have our reasons, too."

Hunter carefully folded the pardon and put it in his shirt pocket. "What do you want from me, Amna? No," he corrected himself, "what do you want from me, Ranger Khabat?"

She moved closer, so close he could smell the faint odor of her perfume. "All I want," she said softly, "is for you to remember who you are. And where your loyalties lie." She raised a hand, tracing a scar on his cheek. "And for you to take care of yourself, Zach. Those mammals in there aren't the only ones who care about you." He felt his heart begin to race.

With that, she left him.

Alone.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Shepherd! Here, Shepherd!"

Tavi trotted down the street, glancing into alleyways. So far, there was no sign of the tank.

Her radio crackled. "Forty-six delta, where are you? It's time for you to sign off."

She muttered a curse she'd heard from Hunter under her breath. "Clawhauser! I lost my partner."

"What?" said Clawhauser worriedly. "Okay, hang on, I'll send some units to- wait a minute. You had solo patrol today. What partner?"

"Shepherd!" There was silence. She sighed in exasperation. "The tank!"

"The tank is not your partner," said Clawhauser slowly. "It's a vehicle." There was a pause. "Wait, you lost a tank? How does that even happen?"

Tavi stopped, hesitating. Come to think of it, that did sound kind of bad- "Um, never mind," she said quickly. "I just forgot where I left him. Here he is!"

"Tavi," said Clawhauser suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" she squeaked. "See, here he is." She lowered her voice and spoke in a monotone. "Greetings, citizen. Please remain calm. Enacting protocol Alpha Gamma X-Ray One Five."

"Uh-huh," said Clawhauser suspiciously. "Fangmeyer is enroute to pick you up, Tavi."

"Oh, no need!" She kept looking around desperately, hoping to see Shepherd somewhere. "It's a nice night. I'll just walk."

"The station is five miles away-"

"It's a really nice night!"

"And why would you walk? You have a flying tank."

"Um...oh, gosh, Clawhauser, my radio seems to be running low on batteries. Have to talk to you later, and to reiterate, everything is fine and the tank is not lost at all." She turned off the radio, cutting off Clawhauser's voice.

She looked around the deserted streets. "I am in so much trouble," she muttered.

Then something occurred to her. "I have a flying tank," she said slowly, remembering Clawhauser's words. "A _flying_ tank."

There was one direction she hadn't searched yet. Spotting a fire escape nearby, she scrambled up it.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick and Judy stood outside the embassy. A wintry breeze ruffled their coats as they stood there, paws in their pockets to try and stay warm.

"You sure this is a good idea, Carrots?" asked Nick quietly.

She shrugged. "It's our best bet to work the Prometheus investigation from the other side, Nick. And with all that's going on- I have a feeling that the sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better it will be."

Judy's ears pricked up and she turned around. Nick followed her gaze and saw Hunter, looking pensive, walking out of the embassy. He joined them on the sidewalk, looking around. "Huh. I guess that cabbie really is mad at me. I told him to be here at seven."

"You were gone for a long time," said Judy.

He shrugged. "Had some things to think through." The human frowned as he looked across the street. "Looks like the embassy is getting new neighbors."

Sure enough, a series of vehicles were pulling up to the empty building across the from the embassy. Various mammals were moving furniture in from large box trucks.

"What sort of things?" asked Nick. Hunter looked at him. "You said you had to think through something?" Judy frowned at the slight undercurrent of suspicion in his tone, but Hunter didn't seem to pick up on it.

"Well, for one thing, the Drex."

"The Drex?" Nick and Judy looked at each other, confused. "One of the aliens you humans are always fighting? What do they have to do with anything?"

"They're here." But these words weren't addressed to Nick and Judy, but to himself. His gaze was fixed across the street. "Oh, those idiots," he breathed. "They're putting them right next to our embassy."

"What?" They turned to look across the street as well.

Three humans had just gotten out of a car. Each looked, if not identical, almost like siblings. All were muscular, with short trimmed hair that reminded Nick and Judy of the human military they had seen. "Who are they?"

Instead of answering, Hunter started to cross the street towards the new humans.

Nick and Judy hurried after him.

Hunter slowed his pace as he approached, rolling his shoulders slightly as if to loosen up. The three strange humans looked up from a document they were studying, and their eyes simultaneously narrowed as they saw Hunter.

"Well," said one. "It seems we have neighbors. Perhaps we should throw a housewarming party."

Hunter smiled at them. "It'll be Sirius A all over again, I'd bet."

All three stiffened. "We hadn't forgotten," said one, slightly taller than the rest, in a soft, dangerous tone. He cocked his head. "I think I recognize you from our briefing. Officer Hunter, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," said Hunter. Judy saw him draw one leg back slightly, blading his body. His hands were both above his waist.

Ready for a fight.

"Hunter," she said. "Who are these people?"

"I am Marcus Octavius," said the strange human, looking down at Judy. He smiled charmingly. "And yet another celebrity. Judy Hopps, is it not? My congratulations on your award."

Hunter stepped forward, between Judy and Octavius. "Leave them alone. Deal with me."

Octavius's eyes flicked over Hunter, noting his stance. "We're not here for a fight, Mr. Hunter. It is good for you that we are not." He took a pace forward, ignoring Hunter's sudden tenseness at his movment. "I was at Sirius A," he said quietly. "And also at Luyten."

"My father was killed at Luyten," said Hunter, just as quietly. "But you knew that, didn't you?"

"I am aggrieved to say that it may have been me that killed him, Mr. Hunter. But now is not the time for aggression." His eyes flicked to Judy and Nick. "These poor creatures have been exposed to enough human aggression in their history, haven't they?"

"Hunter," said Judy again, more urgently. "Who are these humans?"

Hunter shook his head. "They aren't humans," he said. "They're Drex."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was on the fourth rooftop she checked that Tavi found Shepherd.

The tank was parked on one corner of the building- though not completely resting his weight on the structure. She could hear the soft whirring of his engine, still providing a slight amount of lift.

"Shepherd," she said with relief. "What do you think you're doing, wandering off like this? Bad tank!"

The tank rose slightly and swiveled to face her.

The roof was poorly lit, with the only real light coming from the moon high above in the cold sky. It glinted on the black armor, slanted across the ports which had once held automatic weapons. The noise of the engines took on a menacing tone to her ears.

For the first time since that day on the roof of the ZPD headquarters building, she realized that what she was seeing was a weapon of war. A device built for one purpose.

Destruction.

She took a cautious step forward. "Shepherd?"

The tank swiveled an optical sensor. "Commander," he said, finally. "My apologies."

Tavi let out a sigh of relief. "What are you doing up here?"

The optical sensor swiveled again, this time to face the stars that were coming out. She looked up.

There was too much light pollution to seem most of the stars, but she could see the brightest ones. "What are you looking at?" she asked, curiously.

"The stars," said the tank.

"The stars?" She looked around again. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"Beautiful," said the tank, contemplatively. "I do not understand."

Oh, boy. How was she going to explain the concept of beauty to a tank? "They're, um, pleasing to look at."

"Why?" asked Shepherd.

She gave up and sat down beside him. "Because," she said quietly. "Just because."

For a long time they looked at the stars, Shepherd's optical sensor swivelling around, studying them. "If you don't find them pretty," asked Tavi, "why are you looking at them?"

"This star pattern is inconsistent with any in my memory banks," said Shepherd. "Except one. Terra."

"Yes," said Tavi, surprised. "I thought you knew. That's where we are."

The tank was silent. "I had assumed this was an aberration," said Shepherd, finally. "That you were mistaken in your identification. Terra is the ancient human homeworld."

"No, we weren't mistaken. This is it."

"Why then, are your kind here?" The sensor swivelled to look at her. "Where are the humans?"

"The humans?" She hesitated. "It's a long story."

"I see," said Shepherd. The tank suddenly rose and turned to face her fully. "Commander, I request an immediate briefing on the history of this planet."

Tavi looked at him, surprised. "You want to know about Terran history?"

"It may affect my mission here."

"Okay," said Tavi slowly. "Where do I start..."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Of course we're human," said Octavius, affronted. He looked back at Judy. "Just a superior sub-species."

"What do you mean superior?" demanded Hunter.

"I mean better, stronger, faster," said the Drex, unperturbed. "Free from the fear that seems to drive you to commit such atrocities, all in the name of mere survival."

"Yeah? And what's your excuse?"

The Drex rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Judy. "We are a genetically engineered subspecies of humanity. Our creator called us _Homo dominus rex_." He sniffed disdainfully. "Hence the appellation of these inferior humans, who call us 'Drex'. _Homo d. rex_ , you see."

"Frankenstein's monsters," said Hunter contemptuously.

"Our creator was derisively nicknamed Frankenstein," explained Octavius. "It comes from an ancient text." He looked back at Hunter. "The humans have no end of names for things they don't understand and thus fear."

Nick looked from one to the other, his eyes narrowing. "Hunter, I don't understand. These humans don't feel fear?"

"They. Are. Not. Human," said Hunter, biting off each word. His fists were clenched. "They were designed- in a lab- by a scientist who thought he could create a more perfect creation. He decided that fear was what led to the excesses of humanity. So he created something that had no concept of fear. That is physically incapable of it." He smiled bitterly. "And he called it _Homo dominus rex_. Domini means lord. Rex means king. You do the math."

"What Mr. Hunter isn't telling you is that he was completely successful," said Octavius in a measured voice. "That he did create a superior species. Both physically- I daresay any one of us could take on three of Mr. Hunter in a fight- and mentally. Without fear, we do not have the handicap of humanity, to mistrust anyone that we find." He shrugged. "Certainly, we have to fight. Against the Karathi, the Larrat, and yes, the humans. But we fight only to defend ourselves."

Hunter snorted derisively. "Tell that to the O'Neill colonists at Sirius A."

"It was not we that started that war," said Octavius.

"I don't have to stand here and listen to this," said Hunter angrily. "I just came over to tell you to watch yourselves. You try any of your 'superior race' crap here, and you'll have to answer to me."

Octavius looked bored. "You're trying to intimidate me, Hunter?"

"Nope. I know that can't be done. I do know, however, that you are very good at counting the potential costs of your actions. Very logical, very 'enlightened' of you." Hunter met his eyes. "I just want to let you know the cost will be too high here."

"You're just one man, Hunter."

"One cop, Octavius. There's a lot of more of us right behind me." Hunter turned and stalked away.

Nick and Judy watched him go. Judy frowned at Octavius. "Why are you here?"

The Drex was still watching Hunter, a slight frown on his face. "We are here seeking what every being in this galaxy wants, Ms. Hopps." He smiled down at her. "Peace."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick hurried to catch up to Hunter. "Zach, what the hell was that all about?"

The human looked down at him. "I thought it was fairly obvious. I was letting the new crooks on the block know I was watching them."

Judy, behind Nick, frowned. "Are you sure they're planning something?"

"They're Drex," said Hunter. "They're vicious, amoral bastards. They don't have to be up to something. It's just their nature." He didn't notice how Nick flinched.

Judy, however, did. "Hunter-"

The human turned to face her. "Judy, they were created in a lab. They had an important emotion- yes, one we tend to think of as negative, but extremely important to our psyche- removed from them. They're not natural. They're monsters."

Nick crossed his arms, glaring up at Hunter. "Do you even hear yourself?"

Hunter frowned. "What?"

"Designed in a lab? Modified from their natural state?" Nick bared his teeth slightly. "Remind you of anyone else you know?"

"I-what?" said Hunter, confused.

"Us, Hunter! Mammals!" Nick pointed to himself. "You know, the Fellowship mammals, they went on and on about how we were created by humans, how that makes us subservient. Because we're _unnatural_."

"Nick," said Hunter, suddenly looking worried. "I didn't mean-"

"Yes, you did, Hunter. You know, I believe you about the Drex, I really do. There's something off about them. But that doesn't mean they weren't right about one thing." Nick pointed at him. "You're afraid of what you don't understand."

"Mammals aren't?"

"Sure," said Nick. "And while it may have escaped your attention, what with your vastly superior technology and wormholes and spaceships, there is one way that we're better than you."

Hunter frowned.

"We've made peace with one another," said Judy, who realized what Nick was getting at. "Predators and prey. All living together."

Nick smiled at her. "Not that we're perfect, of course," he said. Judy grimaced, remembering the Night Howler case and how she'd reacted to Nick after the press conference. The fox looked back at Hunter. "But we've managed to make it work, by and large. And maybe, just maybe, you can look past the Drex's _nature_ -" he almost spat the word, "-and see what they can become. Maybe you have something to learn from us."

There was a long silence, the fox glaring up at the human. Hunter looked back at him, then abruptly smiled. "Thanks, Nick. I can be a bit full of myself at times. Don't know if you noticed."

Nick snorted. "If you were any more full of yourself, Hunter, you'd have exploded."

"Now there's an image."

"Yeah, I really don't want Hunter goo all over me."

Hunter winced and Judy laughed. Nick's ears quivered in embarrassment as he realized what he said.

"And yet another mental image I didn't need," said Judy. She nudged Nick. "Come on, we've got to go pack."

"You guys are leaving already?" said Hunter.

"Well, not right away," said Nick. "But little miss 'Be Prepared' wants everything packed right away."

"I wasn't the cub scout," she reminded Nick.

"Cub scout?" said Hunter with sudden interest. "Nick?"

Nick clamped his paw over Judy's mouth before she could say anything. "No, no. Blatant lies. Inside joke."

Hunter grinned. "I had one sell me some cookies at my old place one time."

"That's the girl scouts, Hunter."

"Oh, don't tell me they let you into the boy scouts."

Nick glared at him. "You know what? Maybe I should hang out with the Drex. They couldn't be half as bad as you are."

"Yeah, well, I try." He sighed. "I need to get back to the Academy."

A cab pulled up to the curb. A window rolled down. "Oh, no," said the sheep inside with disgust. "It's you again."

Hunter frowned at him. "I told you to pick me up here. You knew it was going to be me."

The sheep paused. "No, I thought-"

"Nope," said Hunter. "No, you actually like driving me around."

"That's crazy," said the sheep. Hunter smiled and crossed his arms.

"Well, there's nothing keeping you here. I can call another cab."

The cabbie hesitated, then shrugged. "Well, I'm here anyway. Might as well take your fare."

Judy watched the conversation with a raised eyebrow. "Friend of yours?"

"More like an old enemy," said Hunter. "Sometimes, that's as close to a friend as you get."

"Suddenly, how you treat me makes so much more sense," said Nick.

Hunter grinned and tousled the fur on top of his head, ignoring the fox's protests. "I better get going." He started to turn, then stopped. He looked back at them, then looked carefully down the darkened street, both ways.

Nick and Judy looked around, too. "What's up?" asked Judy.

"Just seeing if anyone was around," said Hunter. "Because if anyone sees this, I'll never live it down."

"Sees what-" she was cut off by Hunter grabbing her- and Nick- in a hug.

She saw Nick's face, his eyes wide with surprise. "You guys be careful, okay?" said Hunter, his voice muffled by their fur. "First Landing can be dangerous at the best of times."

Carefully, and a bit confused, Nick patted him on the shoulder. "We'll be fine, Zach. If you made it over there, we sure can."

He pulled back, still kneeling, his hands resting on their shoulders. He looked them both in the eyes. "I mean it, fox. You're family."

Nick nodded slowly, a bit overwhelmed by his friend's sudden emotion. "I'll be careful. I promise."

"Fair enough." He looked at Judy. "And you- try not to overthrow the government while you're there, huh?"

"I promise nothing," she said, a twinkle in her eye. She reached forward and hugged him again. "Except that I'll be back. I don't want to miss your graduation from the academy."

Hunter grimaced. "Now that's just cruel." He stood up. With a final glance back at them, he got in the cab.

 _Author's Note:_

 _O'Neill Colonies- Think of a giant, hollow metal cylinder that you spin on its long axis to get gravity, floating in space. It's a sort of space habitat. In case you're curious, the humans build them by hollowing out metallic asteroids, filling the interior with water, and then melting them so the water vaporizes and causes the whole thing to swell up like a balloon. A bit of judicious spinning and boom- instant O'Neill colony, just add habitat and population. This probably won't come up, but I like the concept, so there you go._

 _Drex- This is awful Latin, so bear with me. I came up with the name Drex before I came up with the concept I had for them, so I had to come up with a clever reason for what's kind of a silly name (I didn't anticipate actually using them). Homo D. Rex was what I thought up (remember, humans are homo sapiens sapiens); then I had to come up with a reasonable basis for the name. If someone else thinks of something better, please let me know and I might change it._

 _The ending was maybe a bit sappy, but that's deliberate. Hunter is feeling a bit alone and anxious right now. He's not looking forward to his two friends going light-years away._

 _Finally, the chapter title is a reference, of course, to "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. The ending-_

 _"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep_

 _But I have promises to keep_

 _And miles to go before I sleep_

 _And miles to go before I sleep"_

 _I claim no credit for originality for using this- it's a very well-known piece. But it fits the situation quite well, I think._


	13. Chapter 12-Lift-off

Chapter 12-Lift-off

"Pawcuffing tactics," announced Friedkin. Hunter stifled a groan. He'd hated this part of the academy in First Landing. Nothing but cuffing and uncuffing your fellow cadets, for hours on end.

She pointed at Eland. "Cadet Eland."

The cadet stiffened to attention. "Ma'am."

"How would you cuff a mouse?"

"I wouldn't, ma'am," said Eland crisply. "They're too small. Procedure is to place them in a cage for transport."

Hunter blinked. "Really?"

Unfortunately, this caught Friedkin's attention. "Hunter."

"Yes, major?"

"How would you cuff a polar bear?"

He eyed her. "Very carefully, probably after a few stiff drinks."

She sighed. "Cadet Hunter, this is serious."

"Is it? Because I think you just suggested I try to paw-cuff a polar bear." He gestured at her. "You're huge."

There was a sudden, uncomfortable silence. Friedkin slowly raised an eyebrow at him.

Hunter grimaced. "I mean in comparison to a human-"

"All right, Cadet Hunter." She turned around, placing her paws behind her back. "Let's see what you got."

Muttering under his breath, Hunter selected the appropriate size paw-cuffs from one of his cases. He slowly approached Friedkin- then stopped. "You know, I'd have back-up for this," he said.

Friedkin frowned at him over her shoulder. "Pretend you don't."

"Oh, okay." He stuck his hands in his pockets and started rocking back and forth on his feet.

The major gave him a puzzled look. "Hunter, what are you doing?"

"Waiting for back-up."

"Will you just put the cuffs on?" she snapped.

"Fine, fine." Cautiously, he approached her. She was in the Academy-approved stance for prisoners- paws behind her back, head turned to one side. He approached from the side she wasn't watching from- a tactic designed to keep her from seeing his approach. Ideally, it would mean the cuffs going on would be a surprise.

Just as he was about to reach the major, he saw her tense, ever so slightly. He immediately back-pedaled. Several of the cadets- most notably McHorn- snickered.

Friedkin turned, exasperated. "Hunter, will you just-" she blinked as she realized he wasn't where she thought he was.

There was a snick of metal on metal, and she held up her left paw in confusion. A handcuff dangled from it- she whipped around. Hunter was standing several yards away already, however, with her between him and the cadets.

He grinned. "Well, half-way there."

"You dodged around me when I turned," she said, surprised. "That's pretty sneaky."

"Not half as sneaky as this," he said. Her free paw was suddenly yanked behind her and, before she could react, the other end of the dangling cuffs tightened around her wrist.

Friedkin blinked and looked over her shoulder to see Cadet Tibbs, the warthog, backing away nervously.

"Told you I'd have back-up," said Hunter smugly.

For a long moment, Friedkin eyed him, then she shrugged. "Well, I can't deny it worked," she said. "But for now on you use our techniques, Hunter. Not whatever you make up on the fly." She turned and raised her cuffed paws. "Now unlock these."

Hunter, clearly quite pleased with himself, sauntered up and casually unlocked the cuffs. As soon as one was off, Friedkin spun and kicked his legs out from under him.

The human went down, the breath knocked out of him in the fall. He tried to get up but found a massive paw on his chest.

"You're dead, Hunter." Friedkin regarded him impassively, then turned to look at the suddenly very silent cadets. "What did Cadet Hunter do wrong, cadets?"

Eland tentatively raised her paw. "He failed to use the cuffs to control your arm after uncuffing you."

"Exactly," said Friedkin. She reached down and yanked Hunter to his feet. She regarded his wrists critically. "Cat-cuffs," she said, holding out her paw.

Eland tossed her the appropriate sized paw-cuffs. Hunter, still slightly woozy, found his arms yanked behind him and he was quickly cuffed. "Uncuff one paw," said Friedkin. "Then pull the suspect's arm straight and roll it like so." She demonstrated. Hunter suddenly found he couldn't move his arm without risking having it popped out of his socket. "If he tries to go forward-" she pushed very gently on Hunter, who was forced to move downwards. "Backwards- well, I won't demonstrate, because he'd probably have his arm dislocated. Bottom line, you can then remove the last cuff and back away." She suited action to words.

Hunter rolled his shoulder, working out a kink. "I knew all that," he told Friedkin,

She leaned close to him. "Then why didn't you do it, Hunter?"

"You almost never do that in real life," argued Hunter. He kept his voice low. "That's only for worst-case scenarios-"

"And what do you think we're training you for,?" said Friedkin. She raised an eyebrow when he didn't answer. "Get back with the rest of the group."

Rubbing one wrist, he eyed her. "Yes, ma'am," he said quietly. And for once, there was no hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Zootopian spaceport- actually an old airfield that had been repurposed as a landing zone for human ships after First Contact- was all but deserted now. For a short time after the humans had found Terra again, it had bustled with traffic- government officials, businessmen, and even- on one occasion- the odd out-of-place police officer.

Nick hefted his bags uncertainly, looking around at the silent concourse. "Well, thank goodness this isn't too creepy or anything."

Judy gave him a wry look. "Nervous, fox?"

"What?" He sniffed. "Of course not. We're only going to the largest planet in the Human Stars, where we might find the leader of a mysterious organization who keeps trying to kill us, all while dealing with the most cutthroat politicians in the galaxy- hang on, where was I going with this?"

She gave him a half-smile. "You were saying you weren't nervous."

He made a show of considering that. "No," he said slowly. "That couldn't possibly have been my point."

"We'll be okay," said Judy. "Barker will be with us. And Hunter said he'd have humans he trusts watching our back."

"Yeah, but- Barker's coming with us? Ruth Barker? The wolf?"

Judy's ears pricked up, and she turned and nodded over his shoulder. "There she is now."

Wilde turned to see the wolf approaching, her uniform immaculately pressed, as always. Barker was a serious, no-nonsense type- a career cop, through and through. Probably much like Judy would have been, if she hadn't spent so much time around Nick. Judy was still focused, but she'd lightened up a bit.

Barker hadn't. She gave a tight smile to the pair as she walked up. "Wilde," she said in greeting. "Hopps."

"Hi, Ruth," said Judy. "It's been a while. Good to see you."

"I suppose it has," she said. "Not since the award ceremony." She frowned, looking around. "Hunter's not with you, is he?"

"No, he had to be at the academy," said Nick. "Why?"

"Just want to make sure nothing's about to explode," she answered. She gestured. "So should we head to the main gate?"

"No time like the present."

They trooped through the doors leading to the main gate, which in turn led to the landing pad. As the doors swung open, they saw two men in uniform standing at the end of the hallway. One of them was glancing at his watch with an annoyed look on his face.

"I thought these mammals were supposed to be advanced," said the man, who- if Judy was correct in her reading of military insignia- was a Fleet officer. "Doesn't that include punctuality?"

The other man, with a slightly different uniform, shrugged. "Not all can be as punctual as my marines."

The first man scowled at him. "I'm still not sure that's as important for soldiers as you make it out to be, Colonel. I-" he stopped as the colonel, who had caught sight of the three approaching mammals, nodded in their direction.

Flushing slightly, the Fleet officer stepped forward. Judy, Nick, and Barker all stopped a few paces away. The officer inclined his head slightly. "Good morning."

All three mammals had heard his comments, and so they all returned his greeting somewhat frostily. "I'm Ruth Barker," said Barker, who was the senior officer. "This is Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde," she said, indicating the two others. "You're Captain Oakes?"

He clicked his heels and bowed. "At your service, Officer Barker." He gestured to his companion. "This is Colonel la Mancha, commander of the ship's Marine complement."

"Also at your service, ladies." He bowed deeply to Barker and Judy. "And yours," he said, somewhat dismissively, to Wilde. He cocked his head at Judy. "Hopps, you say? Any relation to the Hoppses of Jasimir River?"

Judy blinked. "Um, who?"

Oakes stared at his fellow officer. "I hardly think that Ms. Hopps would be related to one of the noble families of Luyten," he said. "For one thing, and I can see how this might have escaped your notice, she's a rabbit."

La Mancha nodded seriously. "Yes, but one never knows. The Hoppses always have been a rather open-minded family, you know. And they have big ears."

The mammals all looked at each other. "I'm sorry, you said you were leader of-" said Nick faintly.

"The ship's marines, Master Wilde." He stood up even straighter and threw out his chest. "They possess all the three major military virtues! Courageousness! Resourcefulness! Punctuality!"

"Punctuality is among your top three military virtues?" said Barker.

The Marine looked at her, surprised. "Yes, of course."

"But-"

"I find it's better to just accept the colonel and move on," said Oakes hurriedly. "Now, then, we haven't much time. The launch window will be over in less than half an hour. If you'll just come this way-"

He led them out of the spaceport towards a small shuttle. "I apologize for not having anyone to assist you with your bags," said Oakes. "For some reason, the Terran government was reluctant to allow any more than the bare minimum of personnel on the planet for pick-up."

Nick gave him a look. "Yes," he said. "Can't imagine why that might be." He snapped his fingers. "Unless it has something to do with the last large group of military personnel kidnapping a whole bunch of innocent mammals and then having a firefight with police!"

Oakes frowned. "That was the XSO," he said stiffly.

"So?" said Judy.

"The XSO is under the Security Directorate," said la Mancha cheerfully. "A bunch of thugs and political appointees, mostly. Not proper soldiers at all." Oakes's expression hardened, but the colonel didn't seem to notice. "Why, one so-called general I had to coordinate with didn't even know the proper temperature to bake a cheese souffle." He shook his head in disgust.

"I think this colonel might be crazy," whispered Judy, keeping a wary eye on la Mancha.

"Really?" Nick whispered back. "What gives you that idea?"

As they approached the shuttle, a door opened outward, forming a ramp. "Have you ever been to space before?" asked Oakes, with a forced smile on his face.

Barker gave him a polite smile and nodded, but Nick and Judy shook their heads.

"Well," he said, still trying to sound cheerful, "You have quite a treat in store."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick and Judy stood in the observation deck of the shuttle, which was apparently designed for semi-civilian purposes and thus had such a non-combatant feature. The shuttle was moving to dock with the human strike cruiser, which was in a geostationary orbit, some thirty five thousand kilometers above the surface of Terra. Captain Oakes stood a few paces behind them, hands clasped behind their back.

In front, for the first time, they saw their home from space. It appeared enormous, a massive blue sphere broken by the continents, curved stretches of vibrant green and soft-toned brown. Clouds stretched as if daubed onto the planet by the paintbrush of God. Their eyes tracked a cyclone, off to the southern edge of the Great Ocean.

Looking up, they could see the edge of the world, toward the North Pole, where the blue and white of their home's sky suddenly met the infinite blackness of the void, a darkness only broken by the sharp, unwinking points of light that were the stars.

"I'd seen pictures," said Judy softly. "And videos. But to see it for real..." Unconsciously, her paw sought Nick's and clasped it tightly.

He looked at her and smiled insouciantly, though she could see the awe in his eyes, too. "Bunnies," he said, though also quietly, as if the silence was too brittle to break. "So emotional." But he squeezed her paw.

Behind them, Oakes watched their reactions. He remembered the first time he had seen this sight- though of AlphaCen, not Terra, of course. How he had sought to pick out his home and marvelled at how something so enormous could seem so small. And so far away.

And now he wondered at how he could see in the eyes of these two beings so different from him such a similiarity. An humbleness before the greatness of Nature, a realization of one's insignificance- and a hope borne of the realization that even as tiny a speck as an individual person could still be blessed with such sights.

He turned away. "Mr. Wilde, Ms. Hopps."

Nick glanced over his shoulder. "Yes, captain?"

"I've work to do," he said. He hesitated. "But you two can stay as long as you like."

Judy turned to look at him, too. "Thank you," she said.

The human gave them an unreadable look, then nodded and walked away.

Nick pulled Judy closer, and she rested her head against his shoulder as they watched the world go by.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Getting settled into the ship took no time at all. Both Nick and Judy had stared out the window during docking, astonished, as they realized just how massive the human strike cruiser was. Even Barker had been impressed.

"I came over on a passenger liner," she'd remarked. "They said that was a big ship."

"As big as this?" Judy had wanted to know.

She had just shaken her head, silenced as the ship continued to get larger and larger in the viewport.

When they had docked, there had been some sort of incomprehensible ceremony, with whistles and salutes and the clash of ceremonial swords. The mammals had more or less let themselves be led through it by the ship's first officer, Commander Tosetti. She had been friendly, though distant.

Then they had been shown to their staterooms.

"This is it?" said Judy, surprised. Other than a chair bolted into the floor, the room just looked like a large empty box.

Nick, whose room was- fortunately- directly adjacent, leaned into her room and looked around. "I think this is even smaller than that place you had when you first moved to the city."

"Where's the bed?"

There was a low hum. "Hello," said a voice. "Welcome to your stateroom. You sound like you need help."

Judy and Nick looked at each other. "Um, sure," said Judy.

"Okay. What can I help you with?" said the voice.

"Um, where's the bed?"

"The head is through the door on your right."

Judy gave Nick a quizzical look. He shrugged. She looked up at the ceiling, which is where the voice was coming from. "I said the bed. Where is the bed?"

One section of wall suddenly folded out into a bed, bonking Nick on the head. He staggered and moved away, rubbing his head and scowling.

Judy, seeing he wasn't seriously hurt, carefully kept from smiling. "You okay?"

"Why is the room trying to kill me?" he asked plaintively. "What is wrong with humans?"

The room spoke again. "I do not understand. Please try again."

Nick looked up and spoke slowly and distinctly. "What is wrong with humans?" he said, annoyed.

"I do not have an answer to that question. However, the following encyclopedia entries might help with your query."

A viewscreen nearby lit up. Nick and Judy leaned closer. Judy's eyes fell on one particular entry, perhaps because of the name. "Who is Carrot-top?"

"While I'm not usually in favor of the destruction of knowledge, I may make an exception for that entry," said a female voice from the doorway. The two mammals turned.

Dressed in what they now recognized as a Fleet uniform, a short, compact woman with light pixie-cut hair regarded them with interest. She lounged against the doorway, hands in her pockets, a stark contrast with the formal decorum they had thus far seen from the ship's officers. She smiled in a friendly manner. "Hi. I'm Lt. Commander Bonnaire, but since you guys aren't Fleet you can just call me Wendy."

Judy stuck out a paw. "Pleased to meet you," she said politely. "So Lt. Commander- that's below Commander, right?"

Bonnaire blinked at her paw before carefully shaking it. "Yeah, that's right. I'm in command of the _Nike_ 's starstrike contingent." She gestured to a pin on her chest, roughly where Judy's badge was on her uniform. The pin showed crossed comets with a sword between them.

"Starstrike?" asked Nick. "I'm Nick, by the way. This is Judy."

"Starstrike units are sort of like- well, they're smaller craft that are launched from the mothership- the _Nike_ , in this case," explained Bonnaire.

Nick tilted his head. "I think I read about something like that," he said slowly. "Like fighters and bombers?"

She nodded. "Those are two types. One or two man ships. We also have larger craft, up to what we class as LDP- long distance patrol. They have a crew of five, and help extend our effective sensor range." She smiled brightly. "Though I didn't really come here to talk shop. I figured you might need some help getting things sorted. The staterooms can be kind of difficult for newcomers, especially with the AI."

The ceiling spoke. "I am designed to assist passengers, and to make their stay easier and more comfortable." It sounded vaguely affronted, oddly.

"Yes," said Bonnaire, looking up at the ceiling. "You just suck at it."

"Unable to comply with request."

Bonnaire looked pained. "I don't even want to know what the AI thought I said," she muttered.

Barker popped her head out of her stateroom. "Hey, can anyone tell me where the bed is in here?" she asked.

The human sighed. "It directed you to the head, didn't it?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"What's the head, anyway?" asked Judy.

Barker and Bonnaire looked at each other. "They haven't been on a ship before," explained Barker.

"Ah."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"E-normous criminal!" announced Friedkin in a bellow.

Hunter winced. "I'm right here," he complained.

He stood in a boxing ring, surrounded by the other cadets. He looked around and turned to face Friedkin, outside the ring. "Anyway," he asked. "Who's enormous?"

"Me," said a voice. Hunter turned and saw McHorn- the officer, not the cadet- climbing into the ring. The rhino looked at him and smiled. "Just me and you, Hunter. No tricks."

Hunter looked him up and down. "Okay, yeah. I see what you mean by enormous. Diet not working out for you, McHorn?"

He snorted and rolled his shoulders, loosening up. "Yeah, laugh all you want. You may be fast, human, but I've got the power."

"Isn't that like mass times acceleration? I mean, I'll grant you the mass, but the acceleration-"

"Is there a history between you two?" asked Friedkin suspiciously.

Both the rhino and the human looked at her. "Nope," said Hunter.

McHorn looked surprised, but shrugged. "We used to work together," he said, grinning at Hunter. "We got along great."

"Yep, like a house on fire," agreed Hunter. "A lot like a house on fire, in fact. More casualties, though."

The major looked between them, but decided to let it pass. "All right, then. Ready?" She waited for each of them to nod. "Go!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter woke up with Tibbs's anxious face hovering over him. He immediately considered losing consciousness again. Tibbs was friendly enough, but didn't have the sort of looks that made him a pleasant sight to see after waking up.

"Wha' happen?" said Hunter muzzily. He staggered to his feet. "I'm goo' for another roun'."

Friedkin, standing nearby, put a paw on his shoulder and forced him back down. "Don't stand up, Hunter," she said, almost kindly. "You got clocked pretty good."

"Naw, s'fine," slurred Hunter. He looked around. "Where's M'Horn?" As the room came into focus, he blinked. "This isn't the boxing ring," he said, a bit more clearly.

"Nope," said Friedkin. "We carried you to your bunk. The paramedics should be here-"

The door burst open and an armadillo in a paramedic uniform strolled in. He saw Hunter and waved cheerily. "Hey, Hunter. Heard you got a concussion."

Hunter gave him an unsteady look. He vaguely recognized the armadillo from some other scene. "And this pleases you?"

"What? Oh, no. Just hadn't seen you in a while." He pulled out a flashlight. "Now just hold still..."

As the armadillo checked him out, Friedkin snorted. "Pitiful, Hunter. I expected you to last at least three rounds."

He looked at her. "Really?"

"Well, maybe at least a full round. Take the next day or two off, Hunter." She walked out of the room, but then paused and stuck her head back in. "Oh, and Hunter?"

"Yes, major?"

"You're dead!"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"And this," said Bonnaire, pressing a pad to open a door with a flourish, "Is the most important part of the ship."

She had been giving Barker, Nick and Judy a tour of the ship- at least, the non-classified parts. The three mammals looked inside the room she had opened. "That's weird," commented Nick. "It looks almost exactly like a bar."

"Yep!" said Bonnaire cheerfully. "Can I buy you guys a drink?'

"They allow you to drink on a military ship?" asked Judy, shocked.

"Well, sure. If there's an alert, we inject ourselves with these," said Bonnaire, picking up a syringe full of a metallic substance. She saw their uncomprehending faces. "Oh, right. These are nanites. Special type, used to clean out toxins."

Nick squinted at her. "Wait a minute. Aren't those pretty expensive?"

"Not as expensive as trying to make the Fleet dry," she said. "They'd have a dozen stills running within a week if they banned alcohol. Fleet Command figures this way, they'll at least be able to regulate the flow." She shrugged. "Besides, it's standard procedure for a lot of the crew- like the engineers- to inject these in a combat situation anyway. That way, if they're exposed to toxic gases or something, they may not die." She paused. "At least, not as quickly."

"Not as quickly?" said Judy weakly.

Bonnaire looked pensive. "Possibly more painfully, though." She shrugged. "Oh, well. Come, friends, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die." She walked inside and sat down at the bar, before she realized they hadn't followed her.

She looked back to see all three of the mammals watching her suspiciously from the doorway. "For tomorrow we what?" asked Nick cautiously.

The pilot rolled her eyes. "It's just an expression!"

 _Author's Note:_

 _It gets explained later in the story, but the 'head' on a ship is the bathroom. Just like the floor is called a 'deck' and walls are called 'bulkheads'. I'm no expert on naval terminology, however, so if anyone sees something that looks like a mistake let me know._

 _Oh, and Hunter is (not surprisingly) a bit mistaken in his description of that equation he mentions. Force is mass times acceleration, not power (F=ma). Power is work/time (P=w/t). You could, I guess, sort of measure a punch by power, but it makes more sense to calculate it using the first equation. Now, a human hand masses around (on average) 400g; and I found that a professional boxer can punch at around 25-30 mph (I used 30 mph, for about 13.4 m/s). That means a boxer generates about 5360 newtons of force in a punch. I checked, and this is borne out by the studies I've found pretty closely._

 _A rhinoceros is pretty damn big. They can weigh as much as 8000 pounds, or approximately 3600 kilograms. I have no idea how much their feet weigh, however. Just for the sake of argument, we'll assume that it's roughly equivalent to a human in terms of percentage of body weight, which would make it about 0.58% of the total. That comes out to about 20 kg, or 20000 grams. Now, even if McHorn punches really slowly, like say 15 mph (6.7 m/s) then the force of his punch would be 134,000 newtons, or about 25 times a professional human boxer._

 _The lesson is, don't box a rhinoceros. You will probably lose. Behold the predictive power of math! (And common sense)._


	14. Chapter 13- A Grave Tactical Error

Chapter 13-

Judy had decided to have only one small drink for politeness's sake. She suspected Nick would have as well, had it not been for Barker insisting that he do so. Probably just to spite her- Nick still had a problem with authority- he'd allowed Bonnaire to get him a few more. Then he bought a few rounds to repay the favor.

Nick was now pretty sloshed. She kept an eye on him as he slowly swayed from side to side on the bar stool.

"So these fighters," he said eagerly. "How fast do they go?"

Bonnaire had gotten to talking about the starstrike craft again, primarily because Nick seemed remarkably interested in them. Judy sipped a glass of water, watching him curiously. She'd never imagined him taking an interest in something like that.

"Oh, fast," said Bonnaire, slurring the word very slightly. For a small woman, she could put away some liquor. "Like, lessee...what's the fastest plane on your planet?"

Nick frowned. "Probably the Blackhawk. I think it makes about three, four times the speed of sound."

"Okay," said Bonnaire. "That's variable, but we'll say, I don't know, six thousand klicks an hour. That's about 1.6 kilometers a second- sixteen hundred meters a second."

Barker raised her eyebrows. "Wow. That seems pretty fast."

"Uh-huh. Now, remember, we're in space. Nothing to slow you down. So if we accelerate at a paltry one gee- that's 32 meters a second- it would take, um, fifty seconds to hit that speed. A little less than a minute."

Nick looked impressed. "You can do that in your head?"

The pilot grinned. "While drunk, too. That's easy math. All right. Now one of our fighters- I can't give exact numbers, but with inertial compensation they can accelerate at a rate of about one hundred gees for a short period of time. That's 3200 meters per second, per second."

Judy blinked. Nick's eyes widened. "You mean, in one second, they go twice as fast as our fastest plane."

"And keep accelerating," confirmed Bonnaire. "They can't pull that off in atmo- in atmosphere, I mean. Still, if they could- and change their heading fast enough- after about twelve seconds or so of that kind of acceleration they could encircle Terra in one second. Though most of them aren't designed to enter atmosphere. Only the surface attack craft."

Barker and Judy exchanged uneasy looks. They had been okay with the talk of speed- it wasn't particularly warlike- but surface attack was a different matter.

Nick seemed unperturbed. In fact, he looked excited. "Wow! Hey, is there any chance I could go on a flight?"

Bonnaire looked surprised, then amused. "Maybe on one of our trainer craft. Not as fast, but I think you'd enjoy it. I'll run it by the XO- the executive officer," she explained.

Nick smiled at her. "That'd be great!" he enthused.

Barker leaned over to Judy. "Better be careful. Fly-girl there might steal your boyfriend," she said jokingly.

Judy rolled her eyes. "Are we going to have time for a- a space ride-along?" she wondered aloud. "I mean, I thought we were headed straight for AlphaCen."

Bonnaire looked at her. "It's about a week's journey," she said with a shrug. "I mean, I don't know if the captain will go for it-" she hesitated slightly- some of the comments she'd made indicated the captain was not at all fond of the Terrans, "-but there's no reason to think we couldn't otherwise. We'll be running CSP's all along our route, after all. It's procedure."

"CSP's?" asked Barker.

"Sorry. Fleet loves its TLA's- that's Three Letter Acronyms," said Bonnaire with a smile. "CSP is Combat Space Patrol."

Barker grinned. "Yeah, the police does something similar, except we like to MALLOW."

The human frowned. "MALLOW?"

"Make Acronyms Look Like Other Words."

Something Bonnaire had said just clicked in Judy's head. "Combat?" she said, alarmed. "You mean there might be fighting?"

"Oh, no," said the pilot reassuringly. "Closer to a drill, or practice. This is one of the safest parts of the Human Stars. What could possibly happen?"

Both Judy and Barker tensed. Bonnaire frowned. "What?"

The two cops looked around nervously. "Sorry," explained Barker. "It's just when you're a cop you learn not to say anything like that."

The human chuckled. "Oh, don't be ridiculous. Everything is fine."

"You say that," said Judy slowly, still looking around the bar. "But I have to wonder- where did Nick go?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick stumbled down a corridor, holding one paw out to steady himself against a nearby wall. Gradually, it dawned on him that he had been walking for far longer than he had expected. He stopped at yet another intersection. He had forgotten how many he had passed.

"Now," he said muzzily. "I know the bathroom- no, the _head_ \- was around here somewhere." He looked left, then right, then- more or less at random- decided to go right. Still leaning on the wall for support, he moved along.

Suddenly, the wall he had been using to keep his balance disappeared. The fox stumbled and fell, his head bouncing against the metal deck. "Ow," he said. Deciding that was insufficient for his needs, he elaborated. "Owww."

A human's face appeared over him. "Is dog," said the face. "Is orange dog. Hello, orange dog."

"Maxie, whaddaya talking 'bout?" Another face appeared, this one as dark as Hunter. It studied him as well. "I t'ought the captain said no more of them plush toys?"

Nick blinked at that. "I'm not a toy," he said.

Both faces moved closer, their expressions turning to surprise. "Is talking dog," said the first face- Maxie? "We should tell colonel, Mick."

"Naw, Maxie, it's a talkin' plush toy," said Mick. "See?" He poked Nick in the snout.

Nick, annoyed now, smacked away his hand. "Hey! Stop that!" He shakily rose to his feet, seeing the two humans a bit more clearly. Marines, he guessed- they were wearing the thingamajigs- battle dress uniforms. Working clothes, Bonnaire had said. "That's no way to treat a guest."

Both Marines took a step back. "Wait a minute," said Mick slowly. "This ain't no toy."

"And I heard Marines were stupid," said Nick, but the fall had sobered him enough that he said it under his breath.

"Is talking dog," said Maxie stubbornly.

"I'm a fox, dammit. Nick Wilde," said Nick. "Who're you? And where am I? And where's the bathroom?"

Mick pointed to himself. "PFC Mitchell Weatherly. This ugly galoot is Private Serafim Macksimov, Maxie to his friends. And also to me." He cocked his head, studying the fox. "You're a Terran, then?"

"Yup," said Nick. "So where's the bathroom?"

"You mean head?" asked Maksimov.

Nick peered at him, swaying slightly. "Do you want to stand there correcting me on Fleet terminology or tell me where the bathroom is before I just go on your floor?"

"Deck," said Maksimov.

"What?"

"Is called deck. Not floor."

Nick gave him a long, measuring look, then moved to the wall with his back facing them. He unzipped his pants.

"Wait, wait!" cried Weatherly. He pointed. "T'rough that door."

Nick zipped back up. "Thanks."

When he had finished washing his paws, he walked back out. The two Marines from before had turned into a dozen.

"See, Gunny? Is talking dog," said Maksimov, pointing to Nick.

A tall, older man peered at him. "It hasn't talked yet."

Nick was starting to get annoyed. "Don't they tell you guys anything? I'm a fox. And a Terran."

The older man leaned back. "Well, I'll be damned. What's your name, son?"

"Nick Wilde." He put out his paw. The Marine hesitated. "Oh, come on," said Nick impatiently. "I washed it."

Gingerly, the Marine shook his paw. "Sorry, wasn't sure of the protocol. We weren't expected to meet any of you guys. I'm Gunnery Sergeant Sadowski."

So was "Gunny" his rank? "Pleased to meet you." He looked around. "Well, I should get back to the bar."

"The bar?" said Sadowski, puzzled. "Oh, you mean the officer's club. How'd you get all the way down here from there?"

Nick shrugged. "Walked." He thought about it. "Staggered," he corrected.

"Well, if you really want to go," said Sadowski, seeming a bit disappointed. "But I'm sure the boys would like to meet you."

Nick hesitated. "Judy might be worried about me..."

"Oh, come on," said Sadowski. "We were just going to play a hand of poker."

The fox's ears quivered slightly. "Poker? What's that?"

The Marines blinked, then a few exchanged glances. Sadowski smiled. "It's a card game. We like to play with money, keep it interesting. You have any money?"

Nick reached into his pocket. "Not real sure about the value of human money versus ours. You think this will be enough?" He held out a wad of the odd, shiny human money, his entire allowance for the trip.

The gunnery sergeant's eyes gleamed with sudden avarice, and he swallowed. "Yeah, I think that might about do it."

"Gosh, sounds like fun." Nick smiled, his teeth glinting whitely in the light. "So how does this game work?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Judy paced her room, considering whether to contact the captain or not. Quite frankly, from a number of comments Bonnaire had let slip, and what she had seen, she wasn't particularly keen on dealing with that particular human. He seemed to hold a grudge against the Terrrans, though for what reason she couldn't fathom.

On the other paw, Nick had been missing for four hours. The ship was over a kilometer long, she had been told. He could be anywhere. Bonnaire had been unworried, assuring her that he couldn't end up anywhere too dangerous.

"Unless he wanders into the Marine barracks," she had said, her tone joking.

Judy looked up at the ceiling. "Room, what's the time?"

"I'm sorry, I don't have a dime. Is there something else I can help you with?"

"You're just messing with me now," grumbled Judy. She made a decision. She reached for the intercom-

The door slid open, and a bedraggled-looking fox stumbled in. He blinked at Judy. "Isn't this my room?"

"Yes," she said angrily. "I've been waiting for you to come back for hours!"

"Oh," he said. "Sorry." His speech was still slightly slurred. She sniffed the air.

"You weren't in the bar- were you still drinking?'

"Yup," he said, nodding. He mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "bed" in the general direction of the ceiling. Immediately, the bed folded out and he collapsed onto it. "Marines sure can put away a lot of beer," he said sleepily.

Judy glared at the ceiling. "Oh, you understand him, room? Do you only speak drunk?" Then she processed Nick's last comment. "Marines? What were you doing with Marines?" She moved closer and noticed his pockets.

They were stuffed with money. Disbelievingly, she started pulling out wads of cash. "Nick, where did you get this?"

"Marines," he said, eyes closed.

She did a rough count, then an even rougher conversion to Zootopian dollars. "Nick, this is close to five thousand dollars! What'd you do, rob them?"

"Nope. They gave it to me."

She frowned down at him. "Gave it to you?" she asked skeptically.

"What else do you call it? Don't they know the first rule of gambling? Never play with anyone who innocently says 'Gosh, sounds like fun' when you mention a game."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick woke up with a thunderous headache. He let out a groan and blinked at the light. Why was the room light on?

As if in answer to his question, a gray-furred paw put a glass of water next to him on the fold-out table next to his bed. He looked up groggily. "Carrots? You can't let a fox sleep in a bit?"

"Captain's invited us to have lunch with him," she said. She looked pointedly at the fox. "You slept all morning."

He reached over and grabbed his cell phone, turning it on so he could check the time. "Oh." He grudgingly swung his legs over the edge of the bed and sipped at the water. He winced. "I thought the saying was 'liquor before beer, everything's clear'."

Judy raised an eyebrow. "I think if you have that much to drink, it doesn't matter what order you put it in."

There was a chiming sound and the room spoke. "There is someone waiting outside your room," said the room cheerfully. "Shall I open the door?"

Nick jumped up and hastily grabbed his pants. "No, no- don't open the door!"

The door slid open, revealing Colonel la Mancha, who raised an eyebrow at Nick. The fox, a bit unsteady and surprised, overbalanced with one leg in his pants, falling to the floor.

"It's my pleasure to obey," said the room happily.

"Then why don't you?" snarled Nick.

"I'm afraid I don't understand. Why don't I what?"

La Mancha sighed. "My apologies for the room AI. We never have quite worked out the bugs." He looked down at Nick, who had managed to get into his pants successfully, then to Judy. Immediately he bowed deeply. "Miss Hopps. You look lovely this morning." He took the surprised bunny's paw and raised it to his lips.

Judy and Nick exchanged surprised looks. "I- thank you," she said.

"Admittedly," continued the colonel, "I am unsure what the standards of beauty for a sapient bunny would be, but I find it is best to assure every female of whatever species that they look especially lovely when you see them."

"Next time," suggested Judy, "Just stop at 'you look lovely.'"

The colonel gave her a grave nod and pulled out a small, expensive-looking leather book with a lock on it from his back pocket, as well as a pen. He wrote carefully in it. "My diary," he said, seeing their puzzled looks. "I encourage all my Marines to keep one. Particularly in combat. Writing down your thoughts, feelings, and words of advice-" he nodded to Judy, "-can be soothing in times of trouble."

"Don't they, you know, have other things to do during combat?" asked Nick warily. "Like, I don't know, fighting?"

"Well, certainly," said the colonel. "But there are always lulls. And if there aren't, I encourage them to make them."

"Make them?" Nick had finished dressing and was now trying to flatten down a bit of his fur that was standing up.

"Yes. By killing the enemy around them. Not only does that generally assist in achieving their objective, but it also allows them time to write," said la Mancha, showing every indication of seriousness. "But I digress. I have come to escort you to the captain's table. As well as to the food on it, I presume. The captain did not specify."

Nick gave up on the errant tuft of hair with a sigh. "Right. Well, let's go, then."

As he started forward, a wad of cash fell from his pants pocket. Judy snatched it up and shoved it back in his pocket, glancing up to see la Mancha's reaction. He just waited patiently and gestured for them to follow him.

She breathed a sigh of relief as they followed the colonel down the corridor. "Nick," she said quietly. "You had better keep from flashing that money around."

"Why?" he asked, still a bit bleary-eyed. "Won it fair and square."

"Do I really have to explain it to you?" she whispered. She gestured to la Mancha. "Those are his Marines!"

He squinted at the colonel's back. "So?" he asked.

"Miss Hopps fears that I will be upset with you for taking money from my Marines during your poker game last night," said la Mancha over his shoulder.

There was a short pause. "Are you?" asked Nick in a small voice.

La Mancha turned, so suddenly that Nick found himself very close to the human. He leaned down. "I fear you have made a grave tactical error, young Master Wilde."

Nick looked up at the human's grey eyes and gulped. He felt Judy tense next to him.

The colonel nodded. "Indeed. You see, it is not wise to have Marines owe you money."

"How'd you know- wait, why not?"

"If you ever get in trouble, they may not rescue you," said la Mancha. "It is far better to owe them money. Then they have incentive."

Nick blinked. "Huh. Am I likely to need rescuing?"

"If my Marines owe you money?" La Mancha started walking again. "Quite possibly."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi found Hunter, quite to her surprise, on the Academy running track. He waved as he saw her. Sweating, he slowed to a walk as he approached. "Hey, rookie."

"Zach?" She looked around, but there was no sign of anyone in authority. "Are they still making you run? Didn't you have a concussion?"

He put a finger to his lips. "Not so loud, Tavi." He cautiously looked around. "I'm not supposed to be out here."

"Wait." She frowned. "Don't tell me you're only running on the track because they told you not to."

"No, no." He picked up a bottle of water and took a long swig. "I just realized I needed a bit more exercise than I had been getting. And I feel fine. Not the first time I've been knocked loopy."

They were interrupted by a warthog, who ran up waving a piece of paper. "Mr. Hunter! I think I know why you lost the fight with McHorn." He held up the paper. "I did these calculations, see, and-"

Hunter squinted at the paper, which was filled with equations and numbers. "You know, when I became a police officer, I was told there would be no math."

"But-"

"I lost the fight, Tibbs, because he outweighs me by about a ton or more." Hunter shrugged. "It is what it is."

"I've got an idea how you can beat him, though," said the warthog, looking disconsolate.

"So do I. It involves a tire iron and a dark alley," said Hunter.

"Um..."

"So what's up, Anila?" asked Hunter, transferring his attention to the mongoose. "Are Nick and Judy okay? I guess they won't be able to send email until they're off the _Nike_."

"As far as I know," said Tavi. "No, I came by to see if you were feeling well enough to help me out."

"What with?"

Tavi held up some photos. "These are some of the leaders of the local Fellowship of Terra churches," she said. "I've been trying to get someone to do surveillance on them. See where they go, who they talk to."

Hunter took the photos. "I know him," he said, pointing to one. "He came around my apartment, begging for an autograph or something."

Tavi nodded. "Yeah, remember, they think you're a god or saint or something."

Hunter frowned, then looked at Tibbs, whose eyes were wide. "You didn't hear that." He looked back at Tavi. "Tibbs is a good kid, but we need to be careful where we spread this around, okay?"

"Sorry," she said, ears lying flat. "I didn't think."

"It's okay, rookie." He sat down on a nearby bench and looked through the photos again. "So when did they start the surveillance."

"They didn't," said Tavi angrily. "They won't listen to me."

Hunter paused, looked down at her. "These photos are clearly surveillance photos- dammit, Tavi!"

"What?" She put her paws on her hips and scowled up at the human. "If they won't do it, then I will."

"You could have gotten hurt-"

"I'm a cop, Zach!" said Tavi. "It's my job to take risks!"

"Not while I'm not around to keep you safe!"

"You can't be around all the time, Zach. And I've still got a job to do."

Both of them were ignoring Tibbs, who, glancing between them with wide eyes, decided it was a good time to make himself scarce. He backed off and headed towards the barracks.

"Tavi, you just- I can't-" Hunter avoided her eyes.

The mongoose's anger evaporated. "Hunter?"

He covered his eyes.

She hopped up onto the bench and cautiously touched his shoulder with her paw. "Zach."

He took a deep breath and looked at her. "Anila. Listen. This is a big deal. This Prometheus character- whoever he is- means business." He held her gaze. "And for whatever reason, he's interested in me. And that means he might come after those who are close to me. I'm not-" he looked away. "I'm not strong enough to lose anyone else," he said, in a voice almost too low to hear.

She hugged him. "I'll be okay."

He sighed and looked up at the sky. "Rookies always think that." There was a wistful tone in his voice. "Tavi, listen. I had a rookie, once, named Katie Warner. She was a great kid. Smart, motivated, and dedicated to the job. She used to run rings around me when I was training her."

His eyes were unfocused, as if he were looking into the past. "Katie cleared the field training program with flying colors. You know those awards I got copies of, the ones my rookies won? Three of those are hers." He looked down at his hands. "The last one was posthumous."

Tavi blinked back tears as she heard the heartbreak in his voice. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

"There was a robbery. A major crew- they were connected to a terrorist group, used bank robberies to finance the cause. They decided to start shooting hostages, and she put together an entry team from the officers that had arrived and went in." He shook his head. "They got all but one of the bad guys, but she took three bullets. Katie died before I could even get there."

"It doesn't sound like she had a choice," said Tavi.

He looked up at Tavi. "I'm not trying to criticize her, Tavi. But she was overconfident. In another five minutes I would have been there, along with who knows how many other officers."

"It could have been you that died, then, Zach."

His next words were a whisper. "Sometimes I wish it had been."

She felt her heart skip a beat. "Zach-"

He held up a hand. "I don't mean I'm suicidal, Anila. I just mean- if I could have taken those bullets instead of Katie Warner- if I could switch places with her right now- I would." He shook his head. "So listen to me, rookie. Don't go off on your own on this one. Let me help, at least."

Slowly, Tavi nodded. "All right, Zach. I won't."

"So what's your plan?"

She picked up the photos, held them up. "Well, they think you're a saint, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you lie to a saint?"

He blinked. "Would I? Me?"

"Okay," said Tavi, rolling her eyes. "Would most people lie to a saint?"

"No-o-o," said Hunter, thinking it over. "Oh. Wait, your brilliant plan is-"

"To ask them what's going on. It's sheer genius in its simplicity."

Hunter eyed her. "That's definitely one way to put it."

 _Author's Note: To any Marines who might be reading this- I'm joking! It's all in good fun! Please don't find me in a dark alley!_

 _Don't worry, I'm going to make it up to you. The Marines will be awesome, as is their wont._

 _I should point out, by the way, that I'm about 50,000 words into this and I've pretty much just set up the main plot. I figure stuff will really start happening over the next 50,000 words or so, and I'll wrap it up in 50,000 more. That's just a very rough estimate, but it gives you an idea how long this will be. I've been really in the groove as far as writing, putting down something like 4000 words in three or four hours, so I don't expect it to take all that long to write. Maybe be done by the end of the month if all goes well._

 _And someone (Erinnyes01, of course) noticed at the end of_ Hunter and Hunted _that there was an "Arewing" fighter. Was I setting up a Starfox reference? Of course! Nick will be getting behind the stick of one of those somewhere, I promise. Expect copious Starfox references. One of my favorite games as a kid- and I played the hell out of Starfox 64 when it came out, too._

 _I really enjoyed this chapter, particularly the first part. Hope you folks like it too._


	15. Chapter 14- A Lie Called Hope

Chapter 14- A Lie Called Hope

Hunter stood near the corner of Locksley and Pelton, trying to look inconspicuous. Unfortunately, nearly every mammal that passed gave him at least one suspicious glance. Possibly it was because he was human. Maybe it was because he was clearly just standing in the cold, with no particular place to be.

Mostly, he suspected, it was because he was standing next to a hover-tank.

"You know," he said, "I think I might need to teach Tavi a thing or two about effective surveillance techniques. Rule One: Leave your gigantic armored fighting vehicle at the station."

"The commander felt it might be prudent to have me around as back-up," said the tank- somewhat smugly, Hunter thought.

The human shot Shepherd a look. "Really? And you had nothing to do with that decision?"

"I pointed out that the mission was potentially dangerous, and that my assistance might be of value," replied Shepherd.

"Uh-huh," said Hunter skeptically. "You know I'm here, right?"

"Given your operational history, the likelihood of the mission being dangerous seemed higher with your presence, rather than lower," said Shepherd composedly.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" said Hunter angrily.

A wombat walking by carrying a bag of groceries gave him a wary glance and hurried on.

Hunter nodded to himself. "Right. The only thing more suspicious than a man with a flying tank next to him is a man having an argument with a flying tank."

He looked around for Tavi. She had gone to check out the church they had picked- one of the largest in the city, with some seven hundred frequent churchgoers. The church father- the leader- was supposed to be fairly important in the somewhat loose hierarchy of the Fellowship.

Tavi's goal was to make sure he was alone in the church. At this time- around seven in the evening- he was supposed to be.

She was still nowhere to be seen. He wasn't nervous- yet- but he'd probably be in five minutes or so.

"Officer Hunter," said the tank suddenly, making him jump. "Commander Tavi speaks highly of you, particularly with regard to your training capabilities and wisdom."

"I am very wise," said Hunter absently. "Ask anyone who doesn't know me."

The tank hesitated, but forged on. "I have a question to ask you."

"Okay, shoot." He winced. "I mean, go ahead. I really need to stop saying that to people and things that are armed." Though technically the tank wasn't armed anymore, he supposed.

"I have been listening to the conversations of police officers at the station. I am curious- is it wrong to lie?"

Hunter blinked. "That's sort of a weird question. I thought your AI was designed to always be truthful."

"Yes," said Shepherd promptly. "It is."

"Well, then? Why ask?"

"I am endeavouring to understand my mission here more clearly. It seems to presuppose a better understanding of human and mammalian nature than my pre-loaded behavioral algorithms are designed to necessitate."

Hunter turned to look at him. For a long moment he considered what the tank had said. "You mean police work means you need to understand people better than military actions do, I guess?"

"That is what I said."

"Okay." Hunter returned to scanning the street. "Is lying bad? Well, it can be. It's a tool, you see. You use it the right way, and it can help accomplish good things. The wrong way, and you can hurt people. It's not so much that you're lying, it's what you're lying about."

The tank was silent, as if mulling his answer over. "But the officers I have heard are very angry when someone lies to them. And I once heard a conversation where the officer spoke of someone lying to himself, which seems illogical. Either way, the context indicated lying was a negative act."

"That's because most people don't think of the good lies as lies," said Hunter.

"Good lies?"

"Hmmm. Okay, let me ask you something. What is your purpose?"

"To serve and protect the citizens of the Human Stars by following all lawful orders given to me," said Shepherd.

Hunter blinked. "The Human Stars? Aren't you supposed to follow Tavi- your commander?"

"I am given to understand that I was activated after being given to the Zootopian Police Department. Therefore, my presence here is in accordance with the wishes of the Human Stars government. Therefore, by serving the ZPD, I serve the Human Stars."

"Uh. Huh." Hunter mentally filed that under "need to speak to Tavi about". "Okay. So what if the Human Stars ceased to exist? What then would be your purpose?"

There was a long pause. "I do not know," said the tank finally.

"Yet I, too, have sworn an oath," pointed out Hunter. "To the citizens of AlphaCen. But I'd have at least an idea of what to do if the people my oath was sworn to didn't exist anymore. Why is that?"

The tank just looked at him, extending a sensor. "I do not know," Shepherd repeated.

"I have to fall back on some other concepts besides my oath, then," said Hunter. "Things like my sense of honor. My sense of right and wrong."

"I do not understand these concepts," said Shepherd. "Right and wrong do not seem to have an objective basis."

"No, they don't," said Hunter. "People can argue for their entire lives over what is right and what is wrong in different circumstances. But they still exist."

"How?" asked Shepherd, confused. "If they have no objective basis-"

Hunter pointed at him. "I just told you a lie, Shepherd. I told you that right and wrong exist."

The tank's sensor raised up to study him more closely. "I have not been told this is a lie," he said.

"So is honor. So is duty. So is, in fact, love. They can neither be seen, touched, heard, smelt, or tasted. They don't exist. But believing in them makes our entire civilization work." Hunter tapped his head. "They're only true in here. But that's enough to make the difference between a savage- an animal, if you will- and an intelligent, civilized being." He paused. "Assuming you think I'm intelligent and civilized. Bogo might take issue with one or both of those."

"I still do not understand," said the tank, bemusement in his voice. "If they are lies, why believe in them?"

Hunter sighed and scratched his head, looking around. "Okay, maybe I need a more concrete example- oh, wait a minute." He gestured around him. "What do you see?"

"My visual sensors detect twelve sapient mammals, fourteen non-autonomous wheeled transport units, and multiple structures capable of sheltering hostile enemy forces," answered Shepherd, after a slow sweep of the area.

"Yes," said Hunter dryly. "Now in a less psychopathic manner. What are we in the middle of, right now?"

"The city of Zootopia, on the Terran continent of-"

"I'm going to stop you there," said Hunter, holding up a hand. "Before Zootopia was here, what was there in this spot?"

The sensor swivelled back to look at him. "Based on the dominant biome, likely savannah or desert," said the tank.

"Uh-huh. And now there's all this-" he waved his arm vaguely "-stuff. Because a bunch of mammals told themselves a lie that they called Zootopia. Part of the lie was that different species could get along, even when most of their history told them that was objectively untrue. And now what has happened?"

"There is a city here," said Shepherd slowly. "Where different species all get along."

"Exactly," said Hunter. "They told themselves a lie. Then they made it true. And as lies go, it was a pretty good one. We call that sort of lie a dream, or a hope. The real universe doesn't care if you want something to happen. It doesn't care if it's 'right' that something happens. All that matters is what the law of physics says will happen." He spread his arms. "That might seem depressing, until you realize that what that means is that you have to build your own reality. That you have to make the lie become true. That's the kind of lie that needs to be told, that should be told. The ones that say the world- the universe- can be made into a better place."

For a long time, Shepherd stared at him, the unwinking optical sensor steady on his face. Hunter started to feel vaguely nervous, until suddenly the sensor turned to study the stars coming out. "Why are stars considered beautiful?" asked Shepherd.

"Nope," said Hunter, scanning again for Tavi. "One philosophical question a night is my limit."

"But-" 

"Because, Shepherd," said Hunter impatiently. "Just because."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick and Judy were led to a dining room, not far from the bridge of the _Nike_. They both glanced down the corridor, curious to see the bridge, but all they saw was a door, with an armed Marine standing next to it. "Is he always there?" asked Judy.

La Mancha glanced incuriously at the Marine. "Yes, Miss Hopps. Although during times of high alert we have at least two guards on the doors to the bridge. One is sufficient for a safe system such as this one."

"Safe?" asked Nick. "Because we're in the Human Stars?"

"Because we are well behind the frontier," answered La Mancha. "On frontier systems, such as Luyten, there are frequent raids by various enemies- aliens, of course, as well as a few of the independent human systems."

Nick and Judy shared a glance- while they were vaguely aware of the other human nations, they had heard little of them. "How many-" began Judy, but then the door slid open and la Mancha ushered them inside.

The dining room was, in contrast to the rest of the functional, utilitarian vessel, remarkably ornate. Massive columns of what appeared to be real wood ran along the sides, with complex carvings on their bases. Instead of the bright, almost actinic light that bathed the rest of the ship, a soft glow seemed to permeate the room.

The table itself looked to be a work of art, with intricately carved legs and a thick gold and black tablecloth- the colors of the Human Stars flag. Behind each place, set with gold trimmed china and glittering silverware, was a Fleet spacer in full uniform to act as a servant.

Captain Oakes, standing at the head of the table, glanced pointedly at a large, ornate clock above his head. "It is kind of you to arrive," he said coldly. They could almost hear the words "finally" appended to the statement. Barker, standing at a place near the captain, gave them both a frown. "Colonel la Mancha, would you please show our Terran friends to their places?"

At last seated and with the first serving coming out- different types of food for Judy than Nick and Barker, of course- Judy decided to try to make up for their tardiness. "So, Captain Oakes- I understand you're rather young to be a captain on one of these ships. You must have really stood out to be promoted so early." She had spent the time while Nick was sleeping to do some more research on the Human Stars Fleet. The computer system had been quite helpful, though much of it was restricted.

To her surprise, Oakes just scowled at her. "I go where the Fleet sends me," he said stiffly.

"For I am a man under authority," said la Mancha quietly, "having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, come, and he cometh."

Oakes, surprised, raised his glass to la Mancha. "Well put, colonel."

"Now if I could just say to my Marines, drink not, and they would drinketh not," added the colonel, "then I'd know I witnessed a true miracle." He flashed a smile at Nick, who couldn't help but grin. He was starting to like la Mancha, despite his many eccentricities.

"So how are you finding the trip so far?" asked Tosetti after shooting a worried glance at the captain. Oakes had lapsed into a brooding silence, concentrating on his food with a dour ferocity. "Is there anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable?"

"It's been great," said Judy. "Although- is there some trick to using the room AI effectively?"

"Threats," said Bonnaire, sitting across from them. "Threaten to have maintenance wipe its memory."

Judy blinked. "And that works?"

"No, but it makes you feel better," said Bonnaire with a shrug.

"So tell me about Terra," said Tosetti. "Is it true you have no military at all?"

"Well, not most nations," said Judy. She spoke carefully, unsure how much to tell the humans about such things. Still, they would know pretty much everything she did from public sources alone- "The Norestrians- where most polar bears are originally from- do have a small force, but they're mostly ceremonial, I think. There might be a few others."

"And then there's the police forces, I assume," said Tosetti. "You've been trained with firearms, haven't you?"

"Yes," said Judy shortly. "I have."

"Perhaps you'd enjoy some target shooting," said Tosetti. "I find it's relaxing."

"Relaxing," repeated Judy flatly. She had brought to firearms training her usual focus and dedication, but couldn't say she'd enjoyed it.

Tosetti apparently was not picking up on her reaction. "Yes. Nothing like shooting targets full of holes to make up for an entire day of not shooting anyone." She glanced at la Mancha, who gave her an inscrutable smile. "No matter how much they might deserve it."

There was clearly some sort of subtext there, but Judy chose to ignore it. "Sure," she said without enthusiasm. "I'd be happy to- though I doubt you have a weapon I could use."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. We have a low-recoil energy weapon- not very effective against real targets, mind- that works well for target practice," said Tosetti. "It's mostly used for close-range boarding actions, being low-powered enough to avoid breaching the hull."

"I...see," said Judy, surprised. "I would have thought that I would have been issued something like that when they started arming ZPD. Highfall Armory built a gun pretty much from scratch for me instead."

Oakes looked sharply at Tosetti, who blinked. "The technology is still somewhat new," said Oakes, frowning at his first officer. "No doubt they wanted to give you something known to be more reliable."

Judy looked at Nick, who nodded. If they hadn't wanted to give her an experimental weapon, why give her that gyrojet carbine? The answer, she realized, was obvious- the gyrojet, while experimental, was based on technology the Terrans already had.

It reminded her of the nanites. Though they had more or less bullied a human doctor into treating Nick with nanites, the humans had thus far refused to give the technology to the Terrans, citing incompatible biologies. Yet they'd worked on Nick.

They weren't allies, she reminded herself. They were still suspicious and distrustful of the Terrans, despite all the shows of good faith.

Oakes seemed not to notice the sudden silence, but Bonnaire and Tosetti did. "So, Miss Hopps," said Tosetti, almost desperate to keep the conversation going. "You worked with a human for some time on Zootopia, didn't you? A Mr. Hunter?"

"Yes," said Judy politely. "It was part of an exchange program of sorts. He came over to Zootopia. Officer Barker," she added, nodding to the wolf, "went to FLPD."

"Really?" said Bonnaire, looking at her. "That must have been interesting."

"Yes," said Barker. "Most humans seemed to think I was some sort of talking dog."

Nick sighed. "Yes, I got a bit of that from the Marines, too."

Oakes looked up sharply. "Marines?" He transferred his gaze to la Mancha. "Why were the Marines in contact with Mr. Wilde, la Mancha? Have you disciplined them?"

"Now wait a minute," protested Nick. "It wasn't their fault. I wandered off and accidentally went into their barracks. Gunnery Sergeant Sadowski offered to lead me back to the officer's club-" well, he probably would have done, "-but I decided to hang out with them. They're nice guys, really."

"Sadowski?" said Oakes. He frowned. "It was Foxtrot Company?"

"Was it really?" said Nick, raising his eyebrows. "That's appropriate. Wait a minute- aren't companies supposed to have around one hundred soldiers?"

It was la Mancha who answered. "Yes, Master Wilde. They are." The normally cheerful colonel looked downcast.

Nick looked from him to Oakes. "What am I missing?"

The captain sighed. "Golf Company was deployed to- to a system near here shortly before I took command. They took over seventy percent casualties and they were already below strength." His face was grim.

"Wait," said Nick slowly. "There were only fourteen of them there. You mean- that's all that's left?"

Barker and Judy looked ill. "How did that happen?" asked Judy.

"The Larrat," said Oakes. "They show up in a system, announce how many of them you have to kill for them to leave, then attack. They keep killing until you kill the number of them you announced, then leave." His face hardened. "We generally count it a win if we double their 'kill tally'."

"Why?" asked Judy. Everyone looked at her. "Why do they do that?"

Bonnaire shrugged. "Nobody knows."

Nick thought of the men he had played poker with last night. They were friendly and kind, in a goofy sort of way. Even when they realized they had been played, they took it in good spirits. He felt anger welling up inside him, at the sheer waste of it all. "Why not? Haven't you tried to find out?"

Oakes looked at him, his eyes hard. "Of course we have, Mr. Wilde. Countless times, until we realized no one could figure them out. They are alien. Why do they do it?" He stabbed his fork at Nick. "It's their nature."

Judy put a restraining paw on Nick's arm, but he didn't notice. "Their nature? Maybe it's just human nature to destroy what they can't understand!"

The table went silent, and Oakes's face became as stone. "Sir," said Tosetti nervously. "Perhaps we should-"

"At ease, Commander." Oakes stood up, tossing down his napkin on the table. "Mr. Wilde, I think this trip will be a great opportunity for you to correct your thinking. You see humans as monsters, based on what our ancestors of many generations ago were perceived to have done. Despite what your ancestors of as many generations ago were known to have done."

Nick's eyes widened and he shot to his feet, angrily facing the human. "Now just a minute-"

"Six years ago, I was in the Ophiuchi Expanse," continued Oakes, his eyes boring into Nick. "I was in a under-armed _Trident_ , a patrol ship. Two Karathi destroyers attacked a ship carrying colonists. Men, women, and a large proportion of children. They boarded the ship, because the Karathis like to hear the screams of their victims." His tone became even more grim. "We heard them too, as we strained our engines trying to reach them, over the distress calls. At first there were many. By the time we got there, there were none."

Barker shook her head in stunned silence. Judy stared at the captain, open-mouthed. Even Nick looked stunned. The humans merely shook their heads in sad resignation, as if hearing a story similar to many they'd heard before.

"The reason we humans are so distrustful, so _barbaric_ ," said Oakes, "is because we have to be. What we've learned in the ten thousand or more years we've been in space is that there aliens are not just misunderstood. They are not 'friends we haven't met yet', as I heard one Terran diplomat say. They are alien. They are different. And so far, we don't even know if they recognize us as sapient, or if they care if we are. What we are, Mr. Wilde, is _alone_. It is us against the cosmos."

He slowly sat down. "And you should be thanking us, Mr. Wilde. Thanking us from the bottom of your hearts."

Nick's throat felt dry. "Why?" he asked.

Oakes reached for his wine glass. "Because," he said, "if it hadn't been for us barbarians holding AlphaCen, then the terrors of the stars might have reached you long ago." He studied the wine pensively. "And you would have been entirely unprepared to meet them."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I'm not ready for this," muttered Hunter.

"What do you mean?" asked Tavi. "You've interrogated thousands of suspects."

"Yes," said Hunter, glancing again at the quiet church. "But none of them have thought I was a god." He paused, thinking. "Although some of them thought _they_ were God."

The church was one of the few purpose-built Fellowship churches that existed. Instead of being in an out-of-the-way location, even part of a strip center, it was a free-standing building, with a large parking lot that surrounded it on three sides. The structure itself was a massive, A-frame style wooden building, looking out of place in the concrete or brick office buildings of the area. At the apex of the building, far above the massive double-doors, was the stylized star that was a key symbol of the Fellowship's faith.

"What are you worried about?" asked Tavi, confused. She had rarely seen Hunter vacillate, not when there was work that had to be done. As opposed to work he might avoid, of course. "We'll be right outside if anything goes wrong."

"That's not what I'm worried about," said Hunter pensively. He looked at Shepherd. "You'll keep an eye on her?" he asked.

"I'm right here," said Tavi, exasperated.

"The commander is often impetuous," said Shepherd dubiously. "And I cannot gainsay her decisions."

"Hey!" said Tavi, waving her arms. "Right here!"

"Well, keep her out of trouble," said Hunter. He turned to face the building and took a breath. "All right. Here goes nothing."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Wow," said Nick as they left. He let out a breath. "That was the worst dinner party I've ever been to."

"I don't know," said Tosetti, who came out right behind them. "There was one when I was an ensign on the old _Poseidon_ where there was a sudden minor hull breach during the fish course. There was tilapia everywhere." She looked down at Nick. "Did you enjoy your meat courses, by the way? All synthetic protein, of course."

Nick looked surprised. "I thought it was insect meat. Do you mean it was manufactured? It was delicious- one of the best meals I'd ever had."

"I've never had a guest compliment synthetic protein by comparing it to insect meat," she said, amused. She looked thoughtful. "In fact, I don't think I've ever heard anyone compliment synthetic protein, period."

Judy looked vaguely ill. "Synthetic protein? How do they- is it, like, grown in a vat or something-"

Nick held up a paw, forestalling her. "I'd prefer to let that sleeping dog lie, quite frankly," he said with a grimace. "Let's leave it at 'I liked it.'"

"That's more or less the attitude we have," agreed Tosetti with a smile. Her expression sobered. "Mr. Wilde, Miss Hopps. I find myself in the awkward position of having to apologize for the captain."

Barker shook her head. "No, Commander, no apologies needed. The captain has clearly been through a lot-"

"It doesn't excuse impoliteness of that extent," said Tosetti firmly. "Although- look, I don't want to make excuses, but you must understand that Captain Oakes was recently up on charges based on the Horne fiasco."

"The corrupt bureaucrat?" said Judy in surprise. She looked at Nick, remembering his severe injuries, and her face hardened. "The captain was involved in that?"

"No, no," said Tosetti. "He had merely met with Horne a short time before Horne left for Terra. It was a perfectly aboveboard meeting, from what I've heard- a political thing. Oakes needed support from the Expansionist Party leaders to be confirmed for promotion."

Judy frowned. "That's aboveboard? Sounds kinda shady to me."

The first officer shrugged. "It's politics. Anyway, the captain was probably pretty worried- from what I hear, there were at least half a dozen officers of his rank shot for their part in those operations."

"Shot?" repeated Nick, unsure if he heard correctly. "Meaning-"

Tosetti looked at him in surprise. "Shot." She mimed raising a rifle to her shoulder. "Firing squad, blindfold, last cigarette. The whole nine yards."

They looked at her blankly. "They shot people?" said Judy in a near-whisper.

"Yes," said Tosetti. "Of course. I mean, how many of your people died? Of course we took drastic action. We may not be allies, but you are- or were- technically a friendly state."

"How many?" asked Barker.

"Did we shoot?" Tosetti shrugged. "Maybe twenty or thirty."

The mammals all stared at her, shocked. She didn't seem to notice, but checked her watch. "I'm on duty in twenty minutes. Again, I apologize for the dinner- maybe next time will be better." She nodded to them and walked off.

There was a long silence, finally broken by Barker clearing her throat. "Well, maybe this is sort of a good thing. I mean, if they'll execute twenty...or thirty..." she trailed off and swallowed nervously.

"I know what you're thinking," said Nick. "If they'll do that to their own people..."

"What might they do to us?" finished Judy.

 _Author's Note: You find your author in philosophical mood today._

 _Hunter's little speech to Shepherd is, more or less, a restatement of Nietzschean ethics. It boils down to deconstructing all existing moral systems, then reconstructing them based not on a nebulous idea like Kantian morals (which leads to some odd scenarios when taken to extremes) or a Rawlsian ethical system (which presupposes people to be better at game theory than they likely are), but rather is a realistic appraisal of how and why to have more or less absolute moral standards in a universe with no provision for natural justice._

 _At least, that's how I read it. Nietzsche is notoriously unclear in many respects._

 _It should be noted that this presupposes the non-existence of a superior being that creates morality and punishes transgressors. I mean no disrespect to those of faith- I do not believe that this way is the only way, or necessarily correct. It's just a very humanist philosophy, with an emphasis on agency and hope, which is one of the things I like to highlight in my works. As always, too, the opinions of my characters- even protaganists- do not necessarily reflect my own views, nor do I intend them necessarily to be always right or even wise. It's just a point of view._

 _It's been a minute since I thanked my readers, so I feel I should here. Every comment showing you're invested in my story helps keep my motivation high, so I really appreciate it. I'm not saying I would stop completely if no one commented/reviewed- I'm not holding the story for ransom- but it certainly helps me maintain my enthusiasm to see the enthusiasm of others. Thanks guys, and I hope you enjoy reading!_


	16. Chapter 15- Hostilities

Chapter 15

Hunter approached the wide doors of the church, steeling himself. In truth, he was sort of nervous- he wasn't sure exactly how to approach someone who worshipped him. "I mean," he said to himself, "presumably this should be the easiest interrogation ever."

But how to act? Superior and self-righteous? He knew he could be arrogant and even condescending sometimes, but it was a sort of laid-back, somewhat self-deprecating arrogance, not the sort one would expect from a god.

Or should he ditch that completely? Try to show that he wasn't a god? After all, establishing a rapport with a suspect was the first step in an effective interrogation. Coming down like Zeus from his throne might cause the churchman to clam up, from fear if nothing else.

Almost before he realized it, he was standing in front of the doors to the church. Taking a deep breath, he pushed them open.

The interior of the building was sparse, almost spartan. The doors opened directly into the main auditorium, where orderly (and uncomfortable-looking) pews faced a pulpit set on a stage. Hunter glanced around, noting the pictures- one that caught his attention showed an idealized human demonstrating the use of a fire-bow. He looked at that one thoughtfully. The discovery of fire-

"Is someone there?" asked a voice, curious but unconcerned. The voice was followed by a large figure, opening an office door nearby. "The church is closed, but I-" As Hunter recognized the figure- a Siberian tiger, Father Amur, dressed in a conservative suit, the tie loose around his neck- the tiger's jaw dropped. Hunter nodded to him, suddenly nervous.

"Howdy."

Amur blinked, then bowed deeply. "My lord."

Hunter took a step forward, shaking his head. In an instant, he'd decided. Sure, it might be better as far as interrogation to pretend to be a godly figure, but- it just wasn't in him. "No, I'm just a mammal like you."

His head still bowed, the tiger shuffled back nervously as Hunter approached. "Not so, lord. You are a human, one of the Wise. And unless I am much mistaken, you are Zacharias Hunter."

"Yeah," said Hunter. "Son of Maria Hunter. I was born, just like you. I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like you. And just like you, I have questions."

At this the tiger raised his head, though still avoiding direct eye contact. "Lord?"

"Just call me Zach," he said, already tiring of the sycophancy. "Or if you insist, Mr. Hunter."

Amur shook his head. "I cannot, lord. It would be presumptuous-"

"Dammit, Amur!" Hunter took two steps toward the larger mammal, who backed up until he found himself against a wall. "Look at me."

"Lord-"

"Look at me!"

Slowly, the tiger lifted his eyes until they met Hunter's. The tiger's ears twitched. "This is not seemly-"

"My name is Zacharias Hunter," said Hunter. "I was born about fifty or so of your years ago in a system called Alpha Centauri. I'm a cop. I've made mistakes, I have friends, I have lived and loved just as you have." He shook his head. "I am not a god. I am only human."

"And what do you want of me?" asked the tiger, his voice shaking. He averted his eyes again.

Hunter sighed. "How about the truth?"

"The truth about what?"

Hunter hesitated, then took another step forward, forcing Amur to look at him. "You know what truth."

Slowly, the tiger nodded. "Prometheus."

"Yes."

The tiger moved slightly to one side, gesturing to his office. "Please enter, lord. And I will tell you the truth you need to hear."

The veteran cop gave him a suspicious glance, noting the odd phrasing, and gestured to the door himself. "After you," he said ironically.

"Of course," replied Amur. He stepped inside, Hunter following, eyes darting for a possible ambush. The office was small, with just the one door. A desk, covered with papers, sat in one corner, sized for a large mammal like Amur. Another chair stood in front of it, offset to one side. There was a set of filing cabinets, reminding him that even churches have paperwork. Amur headed toward the desk, which suited him just fine-

He had forgotten just how fast the mammals could move. So fast he could barely realize what he was seeing, Amur whipped around and, grabbing him by his shirt front, threw him into the room. He stumbled over the chair in front of the desk, managing to keep from falling by catching himself on the far wall. He grabbed the chair and held it in front of him like a lion-tamer, just in time to see Amur slamming the door shut from outside.

"The hell-" he said, already rushing at the door.

Unfortunately, the door opened towards the outside. Hunter slammed against it, worked the doorknob, but something was blocking the door. There had been a brace set into the door frame, he recalled. Something to keep the door opened.

Or closed.

It was a heavy door. After several tries, Hunter realized he wasn't going to break it down by sheer force.

"Okay," he said to himself. "If he really believes I'm a god, why would he trap me in his office?"

He heard a murmur outside the door. Holding his breath, he heard the tiger's voice speaking.

"-is here. Yes, the human. He does not seem to know- yes, I know you told me." Hunter guessed he was talking on a phone, as he could not hear the other side of the conversation. "Five minutes? Yes, I can hold him that long. Yes."

Okay. So he had five minutes to escape. Hunter looked around the room. The desk held the usual accoutrements of the office- a hole punch, a paper cutter, pens. There was a small bookcase, with a series of books about religious matters. He moved over to one wall, quietly tapping it. Drywall.

It's harder than you think to trap someone in a typical room, decided Hunter.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"We need to talk," said Barker, rounding on Nick and Judy. She had glanced around, seeing they were alone in the corridor.

Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "Do we? I mean, really?"

"Yes, Wilde. What the hell was that? Do you not even understand the concept of diplomacy?"

Nick looked slightly ashamed. "I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, you did. You meant to rattle his chain, and that's exactly what you accomplished." Barker pointed at him. "We're already working under a handicap, here, Wilde."

"You mean that the captain has an irrational dislike of us?" asked Judy.

"No, I mean that Wilde is along," said Barker. "You're unprofessional," she said to the fox.

"Am not."

She gave him a flat look. "And childish."

He stuck his tongue out at her, crossing his eyes.

Barker gave him an unamused look and stalked off.

Nick grinned at Judy, who shook her head. "Do you have to make things so difficult?" she asked wearily.

"Hey, Carrots, when it's important I can be as professional as I need to be." He scowled. "It's just that I couldn't take Oakes's holier-than-thou attitude any longer. We should be grateful, he said."

Judy looked thoughtful as they resumed walking. "And what if he had a point, Nick?"

The fox gave her a surprised look. "Now wait a minute-"

"Think about it. What if it's true? What if we would have been wiped out or enslaved or, or, whatever by these aliens?" argued Judy. "What if the only thing keeping us safe were the humans, paying for our peace and prosperity with their lives."

"They didn't know that's what they were doing- if they did." Nick shook his head. "I can't believe that there isn't a way to negotiate with these Larrat, or Karathi, or whatever. It can't be that they just are what they are, and nothing can change them. Mammals don't work that-" he paused as he realized what he was saying.

Judy finished for him. "Mammals don't work that way," she agreed. "But they aren't mammals."

For a long moment, Nick hesitated, before shaking his head. "They're intelligent. They make choices." He lapsed into a brooding silence.

Judy studied him as they walked. "This isn't about them," she said quietly. "Not really."

Nick avoided her gaze. "I don't know what you mean."

"It's about you. It's about predators. It's about whether or not you can overcome your nature."

The fox turned on her so quickly that Judy took an involuntary step back. "I'm past that, Judy. I know who I am. I know how I feel." He pulled her into a sudden hug. "I just want to believe that others can have the opportunity to make the same choices."

She hugged him back before looking up into his eyes. "They're not like us, though. As different as chalk and cheese, maybe-"

"Or predators and prey?" said Nick, a rueful smile on his face.

"More different, maybe," said Judy. "It's a possibility that we have to face."

Nick was silent, then nodded. "Maybe so. I just wonder if the humans have thought about it at all like that."

"Thought about what?" said Bonnaire cheerfully as she came around the corridor. She stopped and raised an eyebrow as she saw the two in an embrace. "Well, that's interesting," she said.

Judy looked at Nick, who shrugged. "They were bound to find out sooner or later."

The pilot looked between them. "So a fox and a bunny, eh? How's that working out for you?"

Judy kept one arm around Nick, but turned to face Bonnaire. "Pretty good so far."

Nick pretended to wipe sweat from his brow. "Oh, good. I was worried there for a minute."

The bunny gave him a playful punch in the side. "You know you have nothing to worry about."

He grinned down at her. "Yeah, but it's good to hear. Especially in front of witnesses."

Bonnaire watched the exchange, an amused grin on her face. "So this clearly isn't a recent thing. Are inter-species relationships common on Terra?"

"No," answered Judy. "But they do happen."

"It's not what's on the outside that you fall in love with," said Nick. Judy looked at him with a smile.

"Well, then," said Bonnaire, still amused. "If I can tear you away from your girlfriend, are you still up for a flight?"

Nick blinked. "Really? I thought the captain would have to authorize it."

"Technically he could over-rule it, but the XO made the decision." Bonnaire shrugged. "Whatever, so long as I have authorization. We've got a CSP scheduled in half an hour. If we hurry, we can get you set up and you can ride second-seat with me in one of the Arewing trainers."

"Arewing?" asked Nick.

"Technically it's named after the inventor, A.R. Ewing, but everyone just calls it the Arewing. So? You ready?"

Nick looked at Judy. "Is it okay?"

She chuckled, both at the question and the look of pleading in the fox's eyes. "You don't need my permission," she reminded him.

"Um, no, of course not, but-"

She poked him. "It's fine, Nick. Just be careful."

"Nothing to worry about," assured Bonnaire. "Wolf 359 is as safe a system as there is, and I'll be in control. And I'm a damn good pilot. Besides, it's space. There's almost nothing to hit out there."

"All right," said Nick, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Let's go."

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Nick followed the human pilot into a large room with a conference table and chairs bolted to the floor. He was now dressed in a survival suit, which Bonnaire said was similar enough to her flight suit to be sufficient for safety. It was a child's size, naturally, which didn't bother Nick at all- he was used to the larger size of humans by now.

A dozen or so humans sat around the table, their conversation ending abruptly when Bonnaire walked in. "Ten-hut!" shouted a small woman sitting nearest the door. Nick saw they were all wearing flight suits similar to Bonnaire's, and made the reasonable assumption that they were also pilots.

"As you were," said Bonnaire automatically. The pilots' attention immediately shifted to Nick, standing beside her. "This is Nick Wilde, one of the Terrans we're transporting to AlphaCen. Nick, this is the squadron we'll be flying with today, commanded by Lieutenant Julia Rudaski." The petite woman who had called the room to attention nodded, eyeing the fox curiously.

"Hey," said one of the pilots, a pale man with an unruly mop of brown hair sitting in a corner. "Isn't this the Terran that cleaned out Foxtrot Company?"

The gazes of the pilots intensified. "Yeah," said another. "They said he was a fox."

Nick grinned nervously. "Hey, they shouldn't try to hustle a hustler."

"Hustler?" said the brown-haired pilot with a frown. "I thought you guys were supposed to be cops."

Nick's smile froze. "Um, yeah. Forget I said that."

Rudaski, who had sat back down, smiled. "I think I like this fox, Commander."

Bonnaire grinned back. "Yeah, he's not nearly as boring as most of the diplomats I've run across."

"Maybe we could try a hand or two of poker?" said the brown-haired pilot speculatively.

Nick looked at him. "I dunno," he said dubiously. "I don't think I'd play to win against someone who I might be flying with."

"Now we definitely need to try a hand."

"All right, all right," said Bonnaire, consulting her watch. "I'll keep the briefing, well, brief. You know the drill by now. I'll be operating an Arewing trainer for this one, with our guest in the second seat. In the event of trouble, our top priority- after the safety of the ship, of course- is to get him back safely."

"Oh, really?" said a pilot. "So if the Sierra Hotel India Tango hits the fan, everyone drops everything and protects you and the fox? Hey, can I have him fly with me instead?"

"No, Romao, your status as the most expendable pilot in the Fleet is too valuable to sacrifice," said Bonnaire dryly. "In the event of combat, I suggest you enact Procedure Omega."

"Procedure Omega?" said Romao, puzzled. "What's that?"

The pilot next to him leaned over. "That, newbie, is the following. One: Place flight seat back. Two: Bend over. Three: Place head between your legs. And Four..."

"Kiss your ass goodbye," chorused the rest of the pilots.

Nick blinked and looked around at the laughing pilots. Even Romao was chuckling, though with a slightly worried look on his face. Bonnaire looked down at him, but misinterpreted his surprise as worry. "Relax," she said. "It'll be fine. Safest part of the Human Stars."

The fox sighed. "I really would have thought you humans would have learned not to say things like that by now."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter dialed a number on his cell phone, then pinned it between his shoulder and ear as he wrenched the blade of the paper cutter away from the rest of the apparatus. The phone was picked up almost immediately. "Zach?" asked Tavi, worry in her voice. "What's up?"

"Amur trapped me in his office," explained Hunter. He slid the blade of the paper-cutter across the drywall, horizontally, until he had found both studs. "And I think he called someone to come and get me."

"Okay, I'm coming in with Shepherd-"

"Wait, rookie." Hunter, having found the studs, next started to cut vertically along the inside of each stud. He grunted as he forced the blade into the sheetrock- it really wasn't designed for this. "If we snatch him now, he'll probably clam up. Our best bet is to wait until whoever he called gets here, then grab him. Find out who the next crook up the chain is."

There was a pause. "I still feel like I should come in now," said Tavi dubiously. "What if they plan to kill you?"

"Amur tossed me across the office like a toy," said Hunter. "If he wanted to kill me, he could have. They want me alive." _For now_ , he thought but did not say. No sense in worrying Tavi anymore than he needed to. "Besides, I have an exit strategy." He gingerly pushed on the drywall, the piece he cut out nearly popping out already from the slight pressure. Hunter smiled. "I mean, he forgot to take away my cell phone. I don't think he's exactly a criminal mastermind."

"Okay," said Tavi reluctantly. "Keep the line open. I want to know the second anything happens."

"I'll holler for help when I need it," promised Hunter.

"There's a car pulling up now," said Tavi suddenly. "Looks like a wolf is coming out of it."

Hunter paused. "You sure? Anyone else with the wolf?"

"No, just the wolf. You were expecting something else?"

He shrugged, though naturally Tavi couldn't see that. "I don't know. I half expected a human. Or maybe even a Drex."

"The wolf is going inside."

"Okay," said Hunter. "I'm going to be trying to hear what they say, so keep it down."

Hunter moved to the office door and put his ear against it.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Engine checks complete," said Bonnaire. Nick heard her through his headphones, as they couldn't communicate directly while in the ship. He suppressed a thrill of excitement as he looked around him.

He was about to go into space! Granted, he was already in space- but in a fighter!

Around them on the flight deck of the hangar, humans hurried back and forth. The hangar itself was a large, open area with various starstrike units- mostly fighters and bombers that he could see- parked along the edges. When a ship was ready, it moved on a track to the middle, where it faced a large airlock. One human- Bonnaire's crew chief, she'd said- was standing near the front of the Arewing. He cocked his head as if listening, then nodded and gave Bonnaire a thumbs-up.

"Looks like we're next to launch," said Bonnaire. In confirmation, the fighter lurched slightly and moved along the track to face the airlock. The door opened and they moved through.

As the door closed behind them and the air started whistling out of the airlock, Bonnaire's hands danced over the control panel. "Reactor at full." A low hum and slight vibration filled the cockpit. "Grav engine on-line. Disengaging docking clamps." There was a thump and the fighter raised slightly off the airlock floor.

Another voice came over the radio. "Yankee Delta One-Six, airlock will be opening in five. Have a good flight, Blue Falcon."

Bonnaire's voice was slightly tight as she answered. "Acknowledged, Control." She shook her head.

"Blue Falcon?" asked Nick curiously.

"My call-sign," she explained. "Don't ask."

"Ask what?"

"Anything."

The airlock doors suddenly shot open. "All right," said Bonnaire, cheerful again. "Let's show these kids how to fly."

The fighter shot out of the airlock and into open space.

Nick gaped.

Around him, there was nothing but infinity.

Gingerly, he reached out and touched the glass of the cockpit. Not actually glass, he'd been told. It was a sort of transparent alloy, so tough he could have shot it with his carbine from back home and not so much as scratched it. "Oh, my God," he said quietly.

Bonnaire glanced back at him, controlling the ship with smooth movements of her joystick. "It's pretty amazing, isn't it?" she said quietly. She looked around herself. "For I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and touched the face of God," she said.

Nick spread out his gloved palm against the cockpit's "glass". "What's that?"

"An old poem," said Bonnaire. She looked at the _Nike_ they had just left, and grinned. "Hey, want to do something fun?"

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"Conn, Tac. Yankee Delta One-Six is requesting permission to do a fly-by of the _Nike_ ," said Oakes's tactical officer.

The captain didn't look up from the form he was studying. "Denied."

The main screen suddenly shifted, automatically tracking as an Arewing flashed by the ship's exterior sensors. There was no sound or shockwave in space, but the Arewing passed so close that several bridge officers flinched. Oakes looked up and swore. He punched a button on his console, opening a line to Bonnaire's ship. "Dammit, Blue Falcon, permission was denied."

"Sorry, sir," came back the cheerful answer. "I hadn't received that."

Tosetti sighed. "I'll have a word with her, sir."

"See that you do," said Oakes sourly. "I don't care if she is one of the best pilots in the Fleet. She doesn't need to pull stunts like that."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter heard Amur speak first. "My lady, welcome."

A feminine voice answered. "Where is he?"

"Trapped in my office. I called as soon as I could."

"You did well," answered the unknown voice.

Amur's voice was hesitant. "My lady, if he is- if he is the one we have sought, why then does he not come willingly? Why was it so important I trap him here?"

"He is wise," answered the female voice. "But he is still not ready. His path has been chosen for him, from everlasting until everlasting. But he doesn't know the path, not yet. Soon, it will shown to him. Soon, he will see he has no choice but to walk it. And our salvation will be complete."

Hunter shivered at the certainty in the wolf's tone.

"He is through here," said the tiger. Hunter heard the door being unlocked.

He backed up until he was adjacent to the hole he had punched through the wall, and, trying to still his pounding heart, waited.

"Hunter," whispered Tavi.

"Quiet," he ordered. "Just wait a minute."

The door opened.

Amur was first, ducking his head slightly as he came in. He watched Hunter carefully, though still with some awe in his eyes.

Next came the wolf.

She was somewhat above average size for a wolf, easily Hunter's height. Her coat was a rich, full red- he frowned. Weren't red wolves usually a bit smaller in size than this?

The wolf looked down at him, and he blinked at the lack of expression in her eyes. "Zacharias Hunter," she said in greeting.

"That's me," he agreed. "And you are?"

"A friend," she said, still studying him.

"Really?" He looked around. "What do you do to someone who isn't your friend?"

She took a step closer, and he shifted his stance. The big wolf smiled at that. "That won't matter, Mr. Hunter. Because whether you believe it or not, I am your friend. I am the one who will show you the way."

"What way?" asked Hunter, curious despite himself. "What are you talking about?"

"The way. The truth. And the life. The way that will lead to redemption- yours, and that of others."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Well, that's not at all useful. Brass tacks, huh? What do you want from me?"

Amur spoke. "You swore an oath, lord. We want to hold you to it."

"An oath?" said Hunter, puzzled. "I swore an oath when I became a police officer. To serve and protect the people, to ensure their rights, to bring peace, order to chaos. What's that got to do with anything?"

"We're offering you the opportunity to do exactly that," said Amur. "To do it perfectly. To become-" he hesitated.

"To become what?" demanded Hunter.

Amur looked to the wolf, who answered. "To become Prometheus, Mr. Hunter. To save the world. To bring peace."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick watched in awe as they passed the _Nike_ , more sedately this time. "That's a big ship," he murmured.

"The largest class in the Fleet," agreed Bonnaire. Her voice sounded tinny and attenuated through the cockpit intercom. "Though I've heard it doesn't hold a patch on the old United Terran ships. Hell, most of our technology is based on theirs- some of it we don't even entirely understand, like the AI. That's why your rooms are so hard to deal with."

"The United Terrans?" asked Nick, curious. Wasn't he a Terran?

"The ancient human empire," explained Bonnaire. "When we first expanded out from Terra, that was what we called ourselves."

"What happened?" asked Nick. "How could so much knowledge be lost?"

"First there was whatever disaster led to us losing Terra herself," said Bonnaire.

Nick settled back in the seat, feeling vaguely annoyed. "That wasn't our fault," he muttered. He saw Bonnaire shrug in front of him.

"Maybe it wasn't, but whatever happened, a good chunk of human knowledge disappeared when we did from Terra. The disruption led to a civil war- we think; the records are a bit spotty- and then to the First AI war. Since the AI's had so much control over our information technology, a lot more knowledge was lost."

"I see," said Nick. He looked again at the _Nike_. If that was an example of what they had now, how much could they have done before?

Well, raise mammals to sentience, for one.

"Enough history talk," said Bonnaire. "You want to have a go at flying this bucket?"

Nick blinked. "Is that safe?"

"Eh, safe enough," said Bonnaire, not able to see how Nick winced at her casual reply. "Don't worry, I can take control if anything looks like it's going to go wrong."

She quickly explained the basic flight controls. "Okay, you have control."

Nick nodded, gripping the stick. "All right..."

As soon as he did, the ship shuddered and yawed. "Ease up," said Bonnaire, amusement in her voice. "Think smooth. You said you were a hustler, right? So smooth-talk her."

Nick loosened his grip slightly and concentrated on making his movements slow and precise. Though still a bit jittery, their flight path evened out. "Not bad," approved Bonnaire. "Bring her around to two seven zero, positive one-ten."

Keeping his eyes on the sphere that showed their heading, Nick slowly eased into the new heading. "How's that?"

"Well, it was smooth. More like an old lady driving an oil tanker as far as speed, but good enough," said Bonnaire. "Now-"

There was a buzz and a screen in front of Nick- Bonnaire had said it was the sensor display- lit up. "What's that?" said Nick, panicking. "What'd I do?"

Bonnaire had exploded into a flurry of motion. Nick barely had realized he had control taken away from him before she spoke. "Unknown contact. Contacts," she said as more dots showed up on the sensor display. "Yankee Delta One-six to _Nike_."

" _Nike."_

 _"_ I have multiple sensor contacts, consistent with grav drives," said Bonnaire crisply. "Bearing to your position is-" she read out a set of numbers. "They are showing acceleration of forty decimal five six gees."

"Acknowledged."

"What's going on?" asked Nick.

"Don't know," said Bonnaire, bringing the ship around in a tight curve. Nick watched the stars race past the cockpit. "We've got a bunch of new contacts. Probably starstrike craft, with their engines shut down. Now they're all accelerating towards the _Nike_. One thing's for certain, though."

"What's that?"

"They aren't friendly."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Become Prometheus?" echoed Hunter. "What's that supposed to mean? I spoke to him, you know."

"It will all become clear in time," said the wolf. "Now, however, it is time for you to come with us."

"Hang on," said Hunter. "I just want to know one thing."

"What's that?" asked the wolf impatiently.

"Who are you?"

"You may call me Pandora," she replied.

"Pandora?" said Hunter skeptically. "Can I see some ID?"

She moved towards him, with Amur trailing behind her.

"Guess not," muttered Hunter. He snatched up his phone, hidden under a piece of paper on the desk.

Pandora's eyes widened. She turned to glare at Amur, who quailed at the smaller mammal's sudden wrath. "You let him keep his cell phone?" she demanded.

"And locked me in a room made of drywall," said Hunter. "You just can't get good help these days."

"What?"

In answer, Hunter threw himself through the wall.

With one section all but cut away, he easily smashed through the single sheet of dry wall on the other side. It didn't even hurt- much. He stumbled but kept his feet, shaking his head to clear the sheetrock dust from his eyes. It looked like he had just come out into a corridor of some kind.

"Get him!" shouted Pandora from inside the room.

That was a clear signal that it was time to leave. He started down the corridor, which looked to run along the outside of the auditorium, in the direction where he thought the front door was. At least the tiger wouldn't be able to fit through the space between studs he had used to escape-

Behind him, the wall buckled outward, the splintered ends of the wooden studs ripping through the drywall. "Oh, right," he muttered. "Bigger and much stronger." To his surprise, though, when he looked back he saw that the mammal who had smashed through the wall was actually the wolf. "What?"

The wolf turned and her eyes narrowed as she saw him.

Hunter ran.

He'd had a head start, which was the only reason he got all the way to the front door. Impossibly fast, the wolf raced up to him, and pounced. The air was knocked out of his body as he was thrown to the floor under her weight.

He managed to roll, throwing the wolf off of him, but she recovered faster than he could, pinning his shoulders to the floor. "You cannot escape," snarled the wolf. He blinked at her teeth, inches from his face.

"Tavi!" he shouted. "Now!"

The front doors of the church exploded inward.

The wolf barely had time to look up in surprise before a metal arm smashed into her, throwing her clear across the auditorium. She smashed into a set of pews, hitting them with enough force to crack the wood. Hunter got up, catching a glimpse of a stunned Amur further down the hallway, before turning to look at the wolf.

"Who said anything about escape? I was just distracting you until I could call in the tank." he wheezed. He sighed. "Although no one could survive that." He eyed the broken benches and the limp body of the wolf and turned to the tank. "Dammit, Shepherd, I thought lethal force wasn't supposed to be authorized."

"Orders temporarily countermanded on this occasion," responded the tank, unperturbed.

Behind him, Tavi came running up, her tiny baton raised. She stopped when she saw Hunter. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Hunter. He raised an eyebrow at Tavi's baton. "What were you going to do with that, pick their teeth?"

"You use what you got," said Tavi. She looked around. "Where's the tiger?"

"Took off, I expect. I-" A noise caught his attention. Both he and Tavi turned to look back at the auditorium.

Pandora rose.

The wolf slowly picked herself up. One arm was clearly broken, sticking out at an odd angle. She turned, and both Hunter and Tavi grimaced when the arm jolted back into place with an audible click. "Hunter," growled the wolf. She looked at Shepherd, who moved protectively between Tavi and the threat.

"Threat detected," said Shepherd, his voice emotionless. "Target exhibits greater than usual resilience."

"Yeah," said Hunter uneasily. "That's one way to put it." He looked at Shepherd. "Think we can take her?"

"Threat masses approximately three hundred kilos, which is dense for its body size," said Shepherd. "However, I do not believe it presents much of a threat."

"Hear that?" shouted Shepherd to Pandora. "My tank just called you fat."

The wolf crouched slightly, looking from one to another. "The path is set, Hunter," she called. "You cannot hide behind this device forever."

"I don't need to," said Hunter. "Just until I see you behind bars." He eyed the wreckage of the pews, and then glanced at the wall she had broken through. "Really, really thick bars. Maybe electrified."

Tavi kept her eyes on the wolf. "Hunter, maybe you should consider not taunting the evil, seemingly invincible wolf-thing?"

"Nah, that doesn't sound like me at all." He narrowed his eyes at Pandora. "You going to come quietly?"

The wolf, in answer, bared her teeth.

"Okay, your funeral." He looked at the tank and pointed at the wolf. "Hey, Shepherd? _Fetch._ "


	17. Chapter 16-Victory

Chapter 16

"Designating contacts, probable Karathi fighters, Hotel One through-" there was a slight pause from the sensor station "-Sixty."

"Arm weapons," snapped Oakes. "Activate point defense. Notify Yankee Delta squadron that weapons are free."

"Yes, sir," acknowledged Tosetti, who had joined him on the bridge. It was the middle of her sleep cycle, but her eyes were clear and bright.

"Conn, Sensors. We have additional contacts, bearing one seven three, inclination zero. Constant bearing, decreasing distance. Classifying as Klondike boarding units."

Oakes swore. "How did the Karathi get an entire starstrike unit this far behind our lines?"

"Lots of raids on the frontier, sir," said Tosetti, her hands flying over the console. "We're stripped bare right now, what with the increased raids, the Larrat, and the Terran crisis." She looked up at him. "Some of those boarding units are going to make it through our point defense, sir."

"Acknowledged," he said. He keyed the shipwide address. "Now hear this. All personnel, prepare for boarding. I say again, all personnel, prepare for counter-boarding operations. This is not a drill."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Yankee Delta One-six to squadron, close up on me," ordered Bonnaire.

Nick concentrated on his breathing as he had been taught in the police academy, trying to remain calm. Five seconds in, hold five seconds, five seconds out. "What do I need to do?" he said, marvelling at how calm he sounded.

Bonnaire glanced back at him. "Just hold tight, there's not much- belay that." She typed a command into her console. "I just remembered- this model has a rear mounted gun. It's pretty easy to use- the computer does most of the fine aiming."

Nick jumped as his seat rotated, until he was back-to-back with Bonnaire. A sort of yoke appeared in front of him. "What's this, now?"

"Rear mounted rapid fire rail gun," she explained distractedly. "If you see a red sensor contact on your heads-up-display- that's the screen in front of you- move the gun to point at it until you hear a tone. Then pull the trigger until the target goes bye-bye." A note of grim humor came into her voice. "I could let the AI control it, but frankly I'd prefer to have a real brain behind the trigger."

Gulping, Nick closed his paws around the yoke. "Okay. Got it."

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Judy looked up at the ceiling as a klaxon went off. "What's going on?"

Barker poked her head into Judy's quarters soon after. "Something's not right, Hopps."

"Now hear this," said the captain's voice, clear and calm above the racket. "All personnel, prepare for boarding-"

Judy and Barker looked at one another as the announcement finished. "So what do we do?" asked Judy. Her paws flew to her mouth. "Nick!"

"He'll be fine," said Barker, a trifle uncertainly. She managed to put more confidence in her voice. "He's with the top pilot on the ship."

They heard the noise of tramping boots outside, and then an incongruously polite knock at the door. "Yes?" called Judy, her voice shaken, still thinking about Nick.

"Gunnery Sergeant Sadowski, ma'am," said the voice. "We've been ordered to protect this area from attack. Please stay in your room and-"

The Marine blinked as Judy opened the door. "Ma'am?"

"Tosetti said you had a weapon that I might could use," said Judy. "An energy weapon of some kind."

"Ma'am, they won't get through us," said Sadowski. There was suddenly a loud clanging noise, and he looked up. "Get into position," he ordered two of his soldiers. They hustled down the corridor, taking cover behind a doorframe. Or hatchway, Judy reminded herself.

"Sergeant, we're cops," said Barker, behind Judy. "If you have anything we can use to protect ourselves-"

"Just get back into the room, ma'am, and-"

Judy stood in the doorway, her paws on her hips. "We'll stay in the room, Sergeant, as soon as you give us a gun."

Sadowski looked down at her, then sighed, drawing a small sidearm from his belt. "Here," he said, handing it to Judy. It was much closer to a carbine to Judy than a pistol, but it would do if she braced it against the floor. "No real recoil, and it won't penetrate armor."

"What about me?" demanded Barker. Sadowski looked at one of his men.

"Maxie! Give the wolf your sidearm!"

The Marine looked dumbfounded. "But, sir! I need gun!"

"You can't hit the broad side of a battleship with it anyway! Just give it to them so they'll do what I say!"

Grumbling, the Marine tossed Barker the energy pistol. "Here you go, gray talking dog. Please do not shoot me."

"I'm an excellent shot," said Barker, slightly miffed.

"Then aim for their heads," said Sadowski. "Though if the Karathi make it into your room, you'll want to save the last shot for yourself."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick was gradually starting to be able to read the sensor display. "Um, Bonnaire?"

"Yes, Wilde? I'm a bit busy."

"The red dots are the bad guys, right?"

"Yes."

"And the green dots are us?"

"Got it in one," she said distractedly. "Yankee Delta One-six to Yankee Delta Two-nine, close up. You're drifting."

"There are an awful lot of red dots. And not so many green dots."

"Yeah, fox. That's what we call a target-rich environment," said Bonnaire, a smug note in her voice.

"Oh." Nick gripped the gun's yoke a bit harder. "Great."

"We're in missile range," said Bonnaire to him. "Get ready."

The red dots had been converging on the big green dot that represented the _Nike_ \- and Judy- but now they abruptly started to swerve, tracing long lines as they turned towards the oncoming fighters of Yankee Delta.

"I have tone," announced Bonnaire. Sure enough, a steady hum could be heard in the cockpit. "Yankee Delta One-six, fox four!" The fighter shuddered and a missile detached from one of the wings, a slight glow at the back. It rapidly accelerated and disappeared into the black.

"Fox?" said Nick, surprised. "What's that mean?"

"I don't really have time, Nick!"

More missiles streamed from the other fighters, with the calls coming out over the radio. "Yankee Delta Three-zero, fox four!" There were more, momentarily flooding the air.

Nick blinked. "Never mind, I think I figured it out."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Fighters have launched on enemy fighter craft," announced Tactical. "Six of the twelve boarding ships detected have been destroyed by PD fire."

"The remainder?"

"Hull breaches reported on decks five, sixteen, twenty-four and nine."

"Deck nine?" repeated Tosetti. She looked at Oakes. "Sir, the Terrans-"

"I know," he said grimly.

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There was a burst of fire from outside. "Contact!" shouted one of the Marines. More fire.

Judy clutched her pistol in both paws. She was frightened for herself, of course, but right now all she could think of was Nick.

She and Barker had taken what little cover they could behind the bed and desk, with Judy stretched along the floor. The wolf glanced over at her. "Reminds me of the Raid," she said.

"Yeah," replied Judy. "Me too."

 _But at least Nick was with me then._

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"Splash my bandit!" crowed Bonnaire. "All units, prepare to break by pairs and engage on my mark!"

She watched carefully, eyes flicking between her sensors and the HUD, where the enemy ships could be picked out. She twitched the stick slightly and squeezed the trigger, blasting a missile out of space with a burst of rapid fire. "You owe me a beer, Rudaski."

"Fight's not over yet," came back the dry reply.

"Nope," said Bonnaire. "Mark, mark! Break and engage!" She triggered a burst. "Splash two," she said with satisfaction.

Nick could do little but watch as the starfield spun around them. Once or twice he saw flickers of light, but- "Are we fighting?"

"I've got two of them already," said Bonnaire. "It's space, it's big! You won't see much of them, so use your sensors!"

He remembered then what the red and green circles meant. "Right." His eyes sought out the nearest red circle- their range appeared beneath them- and pulled on the gun's yoke until it lined up. A tone hummed in his helmet. Just as he pulled the trigger, there was a burst of light and the ship lurched, throwing him to one side.

"What the hell was that?"

"A close call," said Bonnaire. "Missile detonated only a few hundred klicks away."

"A few hundred is a close call?"

"Everything's bigger in space, even the close calls. Now watch our six."

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Sadowski hunkered down by the hatchway leading to the Terrans' room. A Karathi popped out from down the corridor. Both he and Mick fired, and the alien let out a harsh bark of pain before disappearing again. "Think we got him, gunny?" asked Mick.

"I think he'll get us if you don't mind your sector and shut the hell up," snarled the sergeant.

"Contact!" Sadowski's head whipped to the side.

They were fighting at the head of a "T" intersection, with one of the horizontal bars of the T leading to the Karathi and the other two supposedly being safe. But that contact report had been from one of the Marines covering the "safe" zone.

In other words, they were flanked.

He had to fall back. He also had to protect the Terrans, which meant- he keyed open the door.

Only to throw himself to one side as he saw two energy weapons pointed at him. "Right," he muttered as he heard the snap of discharging beam weapons. "I gave them guns. Whose bright idea was that, anyway?" Careful to not expose himself, he leaned towards the open hatchway. "It's Sadowski! We need to fall back!"

More gunfire punctuated his words. The bunny's serious face eased around the door frame. "Where to?"

He pointed in the only "safe" direction left. "That way!"

Judy dashed out and instinctively ducked and rolled as a burst of gunfire ricocheted off the bulkhead behind her. She slid, somehow changing course and making it to the nearest hatchway where she ducked behind cover.

Behind her, Sadowski gaped. "How did you- I barely even saw you move!"

Judy didn't hear him. She peeked down the corridor and her breath caught in her throat.

It wasn't the Marines, pouring fire down the corridor as they leap-frogged backwards that caught her gaze. It wasn't Barker, gasping as she threw herself behind the hatchway across from Judy.

It was the Karathi.

Imagine an insect, like an ant or maybe a beetle. Enlarge it to the approximate size of a human. Then replace the body with the scaly skin and musculature of a reptile. Add in a few still-insectile features, like the wicked-looking mandibles and chitinous arms which gripped oddly shaped weapons.

She realized that they were armored, but it was hard to tell where the armor was and the body began. Sadowski was falling back, now, his bullpup-style submachine gun pouring short bursts down the corridor.

A Karathi fired and the sergeant stumbled. Judy traded a look with Barker and they both leaned out to fire.

The energy weapons they had been given had no visible beam, no coherent band of visible light connecting the barrel to the target, which vaguely surprised Judy. She had half expected the laser beams of movies. Instead, there was only the visible impact at the target. The Karathi took one shot on the armor, which actually dented slightly, and the second struck it in the head. It fell, legs and arms twitching spasmodically.

"Was that your shot or mine?" asked Barker breathlessly.

Sadowski, who had recovered his feet, joined them behind cover. "I'll give you both the kill," he said generously. The shot had struck his armor. He glanced at them. "Good shooting."

They managed to make it to the next bend in the corridor, still trading fire with the aliens behind them. Sadowski hustled the two Terrans ahead of the group, with only Maxie and Mick- Judy had heard both their names as orders were given by the gunny- acting as point.

"Foxtrot company to Command," said Sadowski into his radio. "We are at Fallback One Three Niner."

"Acknowledged," said la Mancha's voice. "We have been falling back on One Three Niner as well. We shall be coming from the port corridor."

Sadowski frowned. "It must be going worse than I thought if the colonel is retreating."

They had a bit of a breathing space, with Judy and Barker safely ensconced in a conference room, the approaching corridors heavily guarded. A few minutes later, they were joined by the colonel, who- in contrast to the sweating Marines- looked fresh and confident. "Ah, Gunny Sadowski," he said cheerfully. "Don't you love it when a plan comes together?"

"Plan, sir?'

"Oh, yes. Major Krieger suggested hamburgers, but I felt- based on their attack pattern- that pierogis would be more appopriate. Don't you agree, Maksimov?" he asked the burly Marine.

Maksimov blinked. "Er, yes, sir. Pierogis are good. My _babushka_ used to make best pierogis in Domograd."

The colonel frowned. "I don't think you quite understand my meaning. Krieger?"

A Marine officer sighed. "The colonel refers to the plan," he said, directing his comments toward Judy and Barker. "The usual method for eliminating a boarding party is what the colonel refers to a hamburger."

"Grind them up," said la Mancha cheerfully, "and then smash it together." He smacked his hands together in illustration.

"This time, the enemy landed in too many separate parties," said Krieger. "So instead, our job is to surround each party and destroy them in detail."

"Like pierogis," said la Mancha. "Surround them and wrap them up tight. Then smother them in sauce."

"Sauce?" said Sadowski, confused. "What sauce?"

In answer, la Mancha keyed his mike. "La Mancha to Bridge. Boarders are confined to decks five, nine, sixteen, seventeen, and twenty-four. Activate anti-boarding measures."

"Acknowledged," came back the reply. "Deploying nerve gas."

"Nerve gas?" said Judy and Barker simultaneously.

The Marines gave them a surprised look. "Of course," said Krieger.

"Isn't that a bit, um, drastic?"

"Miss Hopps," said la Mancha. "When you have an infestation of insects, what do you do?" He smiled. "You exterminate them." He set a timer on his watch. "The gas should take full effect in ten seconds."

"What if they want to surrender?"

"Then they should have thought of that before they boarded," said la Mancha serenely. "Besides, Karathi don't surrender."

Judy frowned. "They don't?" she said after a moment.

La Mancha's watch timer went off. "Well, not anymore."

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Nick yanked the rear gun around and triggered off another burst at the trailing enemy ship. The shots went wide, with even the correction of the computer's aiming mechanism unable to get a proper firing solution. "Bonnaire!"

"I know, I know!" She spun the ship around and poured on more thrust, glancing at the accelerometer. "I've only been keeping him off us by high-gee maneuvers, and we can't keep up this kind of thrust for long."

The enemy fighter was now in front of them, though they were still moving away- Newton's law in action. Bonnaire swept her crosshairs over the enemy ship and fired, but the Karathi fighter dodged the guns and swept past them. "Nick! Your sector!"

Nick twisted the guns around and squeezed the triggers.

The guns missed, then corrected.

The Karathi had made a mistake. Possibly realizing that the rear gunner was a novice, he had started to cancel his relative velocity too soon. For a brief moment, he was almost dead in space relative to the space fighter.

It was all Nick had needed.

The glittering lines of fire abruptly changed their flight path, intersecting with the red sensor dot on Nick's HUD.

A bright flash announced his kill.

"I got him!" exulted Nick. "I got him!"

"Don't get cocky, kid!" shouted Bonnaire. She checked her readout, noting the last of the Karathi fighters turning to flee. "Never mind, get cocky. Looks like we're done."

"We won?" said Nick, disbelievingly. "What about the ship? Is everyone okay?"

"Yankee Delta One-six to _Nike_ ," she said. "My passenger wants to verify the Terran delegation is unharmed." She grinned. "And be advised he has one confirmed kill."

There was a long pause, Nick's heart in his throat, when finally there came the answer. "This is Nike Actual," said Oakes dryly. "They're fine. All boarders have been neutralized."

Nick let out a deep breath and sagged into his seat.

Oakes continued, "Yankee Delta One-six, Romeo Tango Bravo and prepare to explain the following: who your 'passenger' is and why he was getting kills, confirmed or otherwise."

Bonnaire gave Nick a sheepish grin. "Oops."

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Shepherd needed no further urging from Hunter. Silently, the tank whipped around and shot towards Pandora.

Pandora crouched and leapt, completely over the on-rushing tank, then spun around and grabbed his rear armor. Dodging the swipe of one of his manipulator arms, the wolf ripped open a panel and shoved her paw inside.

Shepherd shuddered and one of the tank's two engines cut out, dropping one side to the floor. The hovertank continued moving, digging a furrow through the carpeted floor as it swung in a wide circle around the auditorium.

Hunter dashed forward, picking up a thick piece of splintered wood from the remains of one of the pews. He brought it up like a baseball player at bat, judging his moment carefully as Shepherd circled around towards him.

The wolf looked up just in time to catch Hunter's swing right between the eyes. She was thrown off the tank, rolling until brought up short against the wall.

Hunter charged after her, but in the split second before he got to Pandora she leapt up, swinging a clawed paw at his face. He threw himself backwards, tripped over a pew and fell sprawling.

Tavi, helpless in the fight of the two larger mammals, was talking frantically on her radio. "Hunter!" she shouted. "We've got back-up incoming."

It was a measure of the effect Bogo had on Hunter that his first thought was _Oh, no, now I'm in trouble._ He rolled as Pandora pounced towards him, dodging her grip. "The sooner the better!" he shouted back.

"One minute!" said Tavi.

Pandora hesitated, looking at Tavi, and Shepherd came back to the fray, swinging a manipulator arm with bone-crushing force into the wolf's midsection. It should have torn her apart.

Instead, it threw her through the window. Panting, Hunter pulled himself up to see the wolf roll to a stop, then jump up and snarl wordlessly.

"No way," he breathed. "Nobody would be standing after that."

Except the Drex, he remembered. Drex were notoriously difficult to kill. The way she moved- but she was a wolf.

Pandora watched him, unblinking, then cocked her head, listening. Hunter heard the sound of sirens.

With one final glance at Hunter, the wolf disappeared into the night.

Hunter coughed, looking at Tavi. "Are you okay?"

"I wasn't the one fighting," she said, running up to him. She examined him critically. "You're bleeding."

He noticed that there were some cuts where Pandora had pinned him down. "Yeah," he said slowly. "I am." He carefully picked something from near the wound, and smiled tightly.

"What's that?" asked Tavi, craning her neck to see.

"A hair," said Hunter with satisfaction. "DNA. Maybe this wasn't a total loss, after all."

He paused and looked around at the destroyed church. "At least not for us," he added.


	18. Chapter 17- Zigs Instead of Zags

Chapter 17- Zigs Intstead of Zags

The fighter thumped into position on the docking platform. Nick let out a pent-up breath. "That was-"

"Intense?" suggested Bonnaire cheerfully.

"Um, yeah. And-"

"Fun?"

"Not exactly what I was thinking."

"Oh, relax, Nick," said the pilot. Their was a clang and the fighter vibrated as it started moving along the track back into the hangar. "You did great. I can't think of anyone that got a confirmed kill on their first time out."

"Yeah," said Nick, smiling slightly. "I guess I did."

"Damn skippy, you did." They were thrown forward as the fighter slid into position at one edge of the hangar. Bonnaire started flipping switches, shutting down the fighter. As the engine settled into a dull whine, then silence, she popped the cockpit and jumped down. She reached up to help Nick, who was a bit shaky on his feet.

"So is this common?" asked Nick, leaning against the Arewing.

"What, combat or being jumped like this?"

"Either. Both."

Bonnaire pulled off her helmet and shook out her hair. "This is my, um," she paused in thought. "Probably three hundredth combat mission. Somewhere around there, anyway. These ambushes are rare- only the Karathi are crazy enough to try and pull it off."

"Ah," said Nick, trying to imagine going through that three hundred times.

Another fighter slotted in next to them, and Rudaski got out of the cockpit. "Hey, Rudaski," said Bonnaire. "Get any kills out there?"

The lieutenant took off her helmet, revealing a grim look. "You didn't hear?"

"I was busy being chewed out by the captain," said Bonnaire, her smile evaporating. "What's wrong?"

"Romao bought it." Rudaski looked down. "Zigged when he should have zagged." She threw down her helmet and walked away.

"Damn," said Bonnaire, suddenly looking weary.

"I'm sorry," said Nick quietly.

"It happens," she said. "Especially with newbies. Hate to see it happen in a nothing fight like that, though."

"Nothing fight?" said Nick. "Weren't we outnumbered something like three to one?"

"More like four to one," she said. "Though the _Nike_ evened the odds a bit with their point defense. No, Nick, you don't understand. We're the best in the galaxy. Four to one Karathi is nothing. Now, four to one against Drex, or Larrat- that'd be tough." She sighed. "Look, I gotta go see the captain to get chewed out in person. And you probably have your own dressing down to look forward to."

The fox looked confused. "I do? Why? I didn't do anything?'

Bonnaire smiled and shook her head. She said nothing, just pointed across the hangar deck. Nick turned to see a gray blur approaching him at speed.

"Carrots-" he said, just before being knocked flat by the speeding bunny.

"Nick," she said, her eyes wet with tears. She gripped him so hard he thought his ribs would creak. "Thank God you're okay."

Recovering from his surprise, he hugged her back as he struggled to his feet. "Piece of cake, Fluff. I was with the best pilot in the fleet." He pulled back and looked her over carefully. "You're okay? I heard there were boarders."

She hesitated. "Piece of cake," she echoed. "The Marines came and got Barker and me."

"Really?" he said slowly. He reached down and fingered a rip on her shirt.

Judy saw what he was looking at and avoided his eyes. "It may have gotten a bit hairy at one point," she admitted.

Sighing, he steered her towards the exit. "We seem to have a knack for getting into trouble," he said. "Think we'll make it?"

"We always do," she said, snuggling closer to him as they walked.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter stood outside the church, which was currently being processed by ZPD's CSI unit. Beside him, Tavi fussed over Shepherd, who had somehow managed to repair his right side grav unit enough that he was no longer "limping". Strangely, though, his speech seemed slightly impaired. The tank assured them it was a temporary problem, though it was hard to trust him when he sounded like a drunk on a three-day bender.

In front of him stood Bogo, who glared down on the human. "Do you know, Hunter, when I was told that an off-duty officer suddenly called in an assist, I immediately thought of you?"

"That's sweet of you, chief. I think of you all the time, too."

"I bet you do. I bet you think of me every time you're doing something you shouldn't." He leaned closer. "And if you are, then I know you're thinking of me all the time."

Hunter took a step back. "You're not going to try to kiss me, are you, chief? Because that's the way this conversation sounds like it was going."

"He's right," said a passing CSI officer. "It sounded a lot like that."

Bogo snorted a laugh. "Hunter, I really should fire you. You're supposed to be sleeping off a concussion, not chasing wolves through churches." He eyed Shepherd. "With a tank."

"It was a super-wolf," insisted Hunter. "The tank was necessary." He leaned back and grinned insouciantly at Bogo. "Besides, you can't fire me."

The water buffalo frowned. "I don't know what you mean."

"If you could have, you'd have done it by now," said Hunter. He crossed his arms.

For a long moment, Bogo studied him. "You're right," he said finally. "City hall thinks you're a hero."

Hunter nodded. "Glad someone appreciates me."

"So I can't fire you. Presumably they want you around to trot out at appropriate times, like mayoral speeches and ribbon-cuttings for orphanages." Bogo smiled mirthlessly. "What they haven't told me is where you should be assigned."

Hunter's smile slipped. "Now hang on a second-"

"We can always use more officers on foot patrol," mused Bogo. "In Tundratown, for example."

Hunter snapped to attention. "Sir! Request permission to pretend the last bit of this conversation did not happen!"

"Permission granted." The water buffalo sighed. "The only thing keeping me from coming up with a really creative punishment, Hunter, is that you sent me a report just before this whole fiasco. Granted, I was reading it just about the time Officer Tavi's assist dropped, but it's the thought that counts."

"Sir? What report-" Hunter stopped as Tavi cleared her throat loudly next to him.

The chief appeared not to notice. "I think finding this Prometheus character is a priority. Whoever he- or she, or whatever- is, they need to be stopped. And in this case, I will very grudgingly admit that you were the best officer for the job." He pointed his finger at Hunter. "But for now on, ask permission before you go haring off on your own, understand?"

Hunter was about to say something sarcastic, but then recalled how cold it was in Tundratown. "Understood, sir."

"Outstanding." Bogo sighed. "Now I'm going to go try and make some sense out of this mess." He walked off towards the CSI officers.

Hunter looked down at Tavi. "Report?" he said dryly."

"Of course," she said, raising an eyebrow. "You don't remember sending it in? Then it must have been some other officer, who was trying to keep you out of trouble. Well, more trouble." She poked him in the ribs. "It was me, if that wasn't clear."

The human smiled down at her. "I'm not that dense," he said.

"Really?" said Tavi with a smirk. "Because I've watched you work, and frankly-"

"Easy, rookie. You've been hanging around with me too much."

She was about to reply when something caught her eye. "That's weird."

"What-" Hunter looked up and then shot to his feet. "Amna?"

The black-haired woman was walking through the outskirts of the scene, scanning the area, with a police lieutenant- a grizzly bear- trailing her. She spotted Hunter when he spoke and hurried toward him. "Zach? Are you okay?" She looked at the church. "What the hell happened here?"

Hunter gestured to Shepherd. "Tank. Super-wolf. Boom."

She stopped near him, putting her hands on her hips. She looked him up and down. "Super-wolf?" she said, her tone dry.

"And tank." He mimed an explosion with his hands. "Thus boom."

"Hunter?" asked Tavi, her tone suspicious as her eyes flicked between Hunter and Khabat. "Who is this?"

"Oh, right. You two haven't met." Hunter gestured between them. "Tavi, this is Amna Khabat, a Directorate Ranger. Amna, this is Tavi, a nosy rookie."

"And his ex-wife," added Khabat. Tavi's ears shot up, quivering as she stared intently at the ranger. Khabat didn't seem to notice, reaching out to touch Hunter's shoulder where he was bleeding. "You're hurt?"

"It's not bad," said Hunter. He put his hand up and moved her hand down- but didn't let go. Tavi's eyes narrowed at that. "What are you doing here, Amna?"

She smiled. "Do I need a reason to check up on you?"

His eyes didn't move from hers. "Yes. You do."

"Okay, so maybe I do." She finally moved away, walking a few steps toward the church. She spoke, her back still turned to him. "What are you investigating, Hunter?"

"Super-wolves, apparently," replied Hunter. "Why?"

The ranger turned back, looking at him sharply. "That's not why you're here," she said. "Your department leaks like a sieve. You're after Prometheus, aren't you?"

"Prometheus?" said Hunter. "What's that? Sounds like a cleaning product."

She hissed in annoyance. "Hunter, you are the most frustrating man I know."

"See," he told Tavi. "I do have some skills."

"I don't think that's marketable."

"I dunno, I've see your news programs. Just mammals arguing with each other. Seems like I could go far with abilities like that."

"Hunter," said Khabat, exasperated. "We can help each other. I think we're on the same side here."

"Really?" said Hunter, turning to face her. "Because you spent quite a lot of time the other day suggesting that we weren't."

"I-"

"I'm a suspicious person, Amna. You know that. It comes with being a cop." He took a step towards her. "And you haven't really regained my trust yet."

Khabat's eyes travelled up and down him again. A slow, lazy smile came across her face. She put one hand on her hips.

Tavi saw Hunter swallow.

"Amna," he said, a bit hoarsely. "I think it's past my bedtime. See you around."

She suddenly moved forward and leaned close, her lips just beside his ear. "Take care of yourself, Zach." Her eyes fell on Tavi and the sultry smile widened. "Keep an eye on him, Miss Tavi."

"It's Officer Tavi," said the mongoose stiffly.

Khabat didn't seem to hear. She leaned in and kissed Hunter's cheek. "See you soon, Zach. Don't be a stranger."

Hunter's eyes followed her as she walked away. Tavi walked up next to him, her eyes flicking between his face and Khabat's retreating form. "Um, Zach." She tugged on his pant leg. "Zach!"

With a start, Hunter looked down, a little wide-eyed. "What?"

"What was that all about?" she demanded, staring up at her friend.

"What was what?" Hunter shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away. "She's just being- well, herself."

"That's not what I meant," said Tavi. "You looked like she stabbed you instead of kissed you."

He looked up at the sky, avoiding her eyes. "Let's just say it's been a while since I've been around humans and leave it at that, huh?"

She scowled and kicked a pebble. "You can't let this cloud your judgment, Zach."

"My judgment isn't clouded," he said defensively. "I'm completely on-board with whatever it is we were doing. Trying to catch the super-wolf or whatever."

"Uh-huh."

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Bonnaire snapped to attention. "Lieutenant Commander Bonnaire reports as order, sir!" she announced crisply.

It was normal for a superior officer to put a reporting subordinate at ease, or even allow them to sit. Oakes, sitting behind his desk, just set down the paperwork he was reading and leaned back to look at her. "I spoke with Tosetti, so you're not in official trouble." _Tosetti, on the other hand-_ but realistically, he wasn't going to punish her. "I just want to know why you thought it was a good idea to bring the fox along on a CSP."

"Sir, it seemed safe. Wolf 359 hasn't had a recorded attack in, well, almost ever." She had checked on that on the way to the captain's quarters. "The last one was in-"

"I'm not interested in history, commander." Oakes continued watching her. "Okay, so you thought it would be safe. We'll put that aside for now. Why take him on a flight to begin with?"

"Our orders, sir?"

Oakes's eyebrows climbed his forehead. "Orders, commander?"

"Sir, I was informed that, while our primary mission was to transport the Terran VIP's to AlphaCen, we were also to try and impress upon them our military strength. Taking Nick- I mean, Mr. Wilde- on a flight seemed a good way to do that." She made the entire speech at a position of perfect attention, eyes forward and back straight.

Oakes nodded slowly. "All right. Fair enough. Well, it turned out well- thanks, I am told, to some exemplary flying on your part." It was the closest thing he would give to a compliment- Bonnaire was too full of herself as it was. Typical fighter jock. "You are dismissed."

The pilot blinked and started to turn away, before looking back at her captain. "Sir? Permission to speak freely?"

The captain had already picked up the paperwork he had been reading before she came in. He looked up at her and frowned. Finally, curiosity won out. "Granted, commander."

"Sir, these orders- we shouldn't be trying to intimidate the Terrans. They're a lot like us. We should befriend them. Couldn't we- you know, make more of an effort to do that?" She hesitated as Oakes's eyes became hard.

"Are you questioning our orders, Commander?"

"No, sir!" She instinctively snapped to attention again. "I'm just saying- nothing precludes us from just being neighborly, sir. Why not try it?"

"We are being friendly, commander," said Oakes. "We are protecting them against the Karathi and the Larrat. Maybe even the Drex, though the mammals seem to be talking to those psychopaths." He shook his head. "Much good it will do them. No, commander, I think we're doing enough for them already. If they can't see that being our friends and allies is the obvious choice- well, so much for them. We can always take Terra back once the Drex or someone else wipes them off it."

He had gone back to signing off on a requisition form, which is why he didn't notice Bonnaire's eyes flash. He also didn't notice the frost in her voice when she replied. "I see, sir. Good evening, sir."

Oakes waved an acknowledgement as she left.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Technically, Maximus, Premier of the Council of Terra, didn't need to be here, where the Human Stars delegates were meeting with the Council of Terra diplomats. As head of state, his place was well away from the negotiating table. The diplomats talked (or sometimes, shouted) at each other all day, then they'd return to their political masters for further instructions. The next day, they'd sit around the table again, with- maybe- slightly modified orders, and talk some more. Eventually, in theory, they'd reach an agreement. Maximus's presence would not contribute an iota to that discussion.

But he wanted to be there for this one.

Since the beginning, the humans' tone had been one of condescension. They acted as if Terra was theirs by right, the mammals allowed to remain on sufferance. That the Terrans should immediately bow to their admittedly massively superior military power and become- what? Vassals? A colony?

Slaves?

Maximus had dug in his heels throughout the negotiations. He had allowed the Terrans to send businessmen to the planet, to seek out markets. He'd even allowed tourism, even that ridiculous exchange program between the ZPD and FLPD. The results of that still astonished him. And the humans had abused his hospitality abominably, using the intercourse between the two polities to sneak in secret agents and that murderer Lucas.

They still refused to admit to that, of course.

"I must reiterate," said Ambassador Castell, in the patient monotone of a man repeating himself for the hundredth or so time, "the XSO operation was wholly illegal and occurred without our knowledge. Those responsible have paid for it, often with their lives."

Maximus, sitting in a massive chair designed for an elephant behind the Terran delegates, shivered. The humans had delivered video of the executions as proof of their veracity. The Premier had been able to watch three of them before refusing to watch more. How could such an advanced people be so barbarous?

"The XSO soldiers we captured said they received their orders through the standard chain of command," said the Terran delegate. "That this was-" he held up a transcript and read, "-business as usual. You must understand that our relations cannot and will not be normalized until we receive the necessary guarantees that such an attack will not happen again."

"And you must understand that a full technological transfer such as you request cannot occur until we know that Terra will be a faithful friend to the Human Stars," returned Castell, in the same bored voice. "We have many enemies, and every small advantage in technology we have is crucial to our survival."

Philip, an oppossum who acted as Maximus's adviser- and friend- entered the room quietly and sat next to the elephant. "Sir," he said, handing a folder to Maximus.

The Premier casually glanced inside the folder and read the first page. "Very good," he murmured. He stood up.

Immediately, all eyes swung to him as he moved to sit at the table. He let out a sigh as he sat down. "Forgive me, your excellency," he said to Castell. "But there has been a development that I wished to explain personally."

The ambassador watched him suspiciously, though his voice remained civil. "Of course, Premier. Please go on."

Maximus handed the folder to an aide, who brought it to the ambassador. "As you know, the beings you call the Drex have also sent a delegation to the planet. What you are looking at, sir, is a draft document, though one fairly well advanced. It is-"

Castell looked up, his face blank but pale. "A Drex guarantee of your independence. Your excellency-"

"You read quickly," said Maximus, smiling as he settled back in his seat. "Perhaps you can write quickly, as well. I strongly suggest you do so. For example, back to your superiors on Alpha Centauri."

Maximus didn't need to be here. The consternation, the panic on the other side of the room would have occurred whether he had delivered the news personally or not. Castell would have still gathered up his delegation and stalked out of the conference room in just the same way. The Terran delegation would have exchanged precisely the same satisfied smiles as they did now.

Maximus didn't need to be here. But after being browbeaten by the humans for so long, he had really, really wanted to be.

 _Author's Note: My writing process- Step One: Focus on plot Step Two: Add copious amounts of humor and characerization Step Three: Torture Captainprice79 with Hunter/Tavi hints and potential ship-sinking. Step Four: ? Step Five: Profit!_

 _Another note: I started (on Archive of Our Own only, to keep all the suggestions in the same place) a series of short Zootopian Fusion Fics (titled A Series of Unfortunate Zootopia Fusion Fics, unimaginatively enough). The first two are Zootopia/WH40K (specifically Ciaphas Cain) and Zootopia/Dragnet. If you're interested, have a read and suggestions are welcome. Mind you, I may not know the fandom or may just not be able to come up with any good ideas, but I'm going to try as many as I can for practice purposes. I may (may!) expand one or more of them to full-fledged stories if the interest level is high enough and I feel I can pull it off. Amusingly, I already kinda want to expand the Ciaphas Cain one- I've got several good ideas already._

 _Anyway, again, that's only on AO3. I just want to keep all the suggestions in the same place to avoid confusion. Hope you enjoy!_

 _Oh, and don't worry- I'm not starting any major projects until this story is done. So it won't impact my schedule. After this is done, I plan to go back and review those stories to see if there are any I particularly like._


	19. Chapter 18- Arrivals and Departures

Chapter 18- Arrivals and Departures

It was the last night before their arrival at AlphaCen, about 0400 hours ship time. Though, to Nick and Judy's chagrin, that would be about mid-day local time. Neither Nick nor Judy had travelled much, and so they had listened to Barker's advice and tried to spend much of the day before arrival napping. Which meant they hadn't been very sleepy that evening-

Judy snuggled closer to Nick. "Well, at least we've had some time to ourselves," she murmured.

The bed was designed for a single human, meaning it was ample for both of them. Even when they had gotten a bit, ahem, athletic. "Yeah," said Nick, stretching his arms above his head. "Maybe we should go on cruises more often. Though, you know, without killer lizard-bugs."

"They do kind of put a damper on things," Judy agreed.

"Incoming call," said the room AI. "Shall I put you on video?"

Nick narrowed his eyes at the ceiling. It always got it wrong- "Sure, go ahead."

Naturally, this was the first time the room listened.

Judy gave a squeak of surprise and embarrassment and burrowed under the covers as Nick felt his ears heat up. Bonnaire's eyes widened, then she chuckled. "Oh, my. Room AI strikes again, does it?"

"Hello, Wendy," said Nick, fighting the urge to hide like Judy. "What's up?"

"Well, Yankee Delta squadron and I wanted to invite you to a little going-away party in the officer's club. Sorry we called so late- they just got off patrol."

Nick sighed, but he clearly wasn't going to get any sleep. "Sure. Can Judy come?"

Bonnaire smiled. "Yeah, in fact I was going to insist you bring her."

Judy carefully peeked over the covers. "You were?"

"It's not just Yankee Delta," said Bonnaire. She moved slightly over and a broad, grinning face appeared.

"Hello, talking dog! Hello, tiny bunny!" said Maksimov jovially.

Judy dove under the covers again.

"It's not often that you get Marines in the same room as pilots," said Bonnaire. "So you two should come for the rarity value if nothing else." She leaned forward conspiratorially. "Technically the enlisted aren't supposed to be here. We paid off the bartender."

Nick grinned. "We'll be there."

From under the covers came a muffled voice. "Speak for yourself. I think I might just stay under here forever."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After some cajoling, Nick had persuaded Judy to get dressed and follow him to the O-club. He found Barker arm-wrestling one of the pilots, a sight that made him blink in surprise. She suddenly tensed and slammed down the pilot's arm, eliciting groans and cheers. As money exchanged hands, the pilot- Margretthe, he recalled- massaged her arm. "That's not fair," she complained. "She has big claws."

"The better to beat you with, my dear," said Barker in satisfaction, sliding over a wad of bills towards her. She caught sight of Nick and Judy and seemed slightly embarrassed. "Hopps, Wilde."

"Barker," said Nick slowly. "Decided to let your hair down a bit?"

She shrugged. "Last night, after all. Might as well live a little before we do all the boring diplomatic stuff."

Nick walked up to the bar and clambered up on a stool next to Bonnaire, who smiled and raised a drink to him as Judy hopped up to the seat next to him. "What'll you have, fox?" asked Bonnaire.

"Whiskey sour?" The drink appeared and Nick sipped it appreciatively. "Hey, that's not bad."

Bonnaire smiled. "This isn't an ordinary celebration, Nick." She stood up and tapped a spoon against her glass. "Your attention, please."

Gunnery Sergeant Sadowski, standing by the door, cleared his throat. "Ten-hut!"

Silence fell. "At ease," said Bonnaire. She smiled at the gunny. "Not bad, Sadowski. Even my pilots shut the hell up."

"It's all in the inflection, ma'am."

Bonnaire turned back to the room. "It isn't every day that a brand-new, wet-behind-the-ears newbie pilot scores his first stick-time and first kill on the same mission. We have here one pilot who accomplished that. Officer Nicholas Wilde, please stand up."

Surprised, Nick stood up on his seat. "Um, what is this?"

The pilot just winked at him before turning her attention back to the room. "Generally, we don't give someone a call-sign until they've passed flight training, but Yankee Delta came to me unanimously with regard to young Mr. Wilde here."

"Not that much younger than you," muttered Nick.

"It's not the years, fox, it's the miles," said Bonnaire out of the corner of her mouth. She stood up and smiled down on the fox, holding a beer. "So, Mr. Wilde, I hereby dub thee 'Hustler'." There was a cheer from the assembled pilots and a decidedly boozier cheer from the Marines. Stepping forward smartly, Bonnaire pinned a flight badge to his shirt. "It's more a memento than anything," she said quietly. "But we mean it."

Nick blinked in surprise, but then grinned. "Well, I don't know what to say-"

"Just say thanks, Hustler!" called Rudaski.

He nodded to Yankee Delta's commander. "Thanks, then, I guess. It's an honor."

Bonnaire hefted the beer. "All right. Now, there's a little tradition we call 'wetting the wings'..." She held out the beer.

Nick reached a paw out to take it, only to have her up-end the beer over his head. He spluttered, shaking his head to get the beer out of his ears. Before he could get angry, though, someone clapped him on the back and put his drink in his paw. He sighed. It was all in good fun, he supposed.

He glanced over to see Judy giggling at him. "A little support here?" he said, though he was smiling.

"You should have seen the look on your face," she said, barely able to get the words out.

"Don't laugh too much, Miss Hopps," said Sadowski, stepping forward. "Mr. Wilde isn't the only one we want to honor." He smiled. "But Marines are too gentlemanly to pour beer over a lady." He held out his hand, ignoring Bonnaire's snort at the word "gentlemanly" in relation to Marines. "Thanks, Miss Hopps. And to you, Miss Barker. You two saved my life, much to the regret of the screw-ups in Foxtrot Company." He glanced over his shoulder with a mock glare. "Which is all of them."

"Not true," protested Maksimov. "I am glad talking dog and tiny bunny saved gunny's life." He paused. "Gunny owes me for poker debt."

Nick grinned, remembering la Mancha's probably facetious advice- then frowned thoughtfully. "You know," he said. "I think the next few rounds are on me."

Marines weren't that hard to get along with, it turned out. Not if you had enough money to get them utterly and completely hammered.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Feeling a bit better than the last time he had spent the night drinking with Marines, Nick made his way into the shuttle standing on the _Nike's_ hangar floor- deck, rather. Behind him, Judy was still walking a bit unsteadily. He looked back at her. "I told you to be careful," he said. "Your body weight is a lot less than most mammals."

She gave him an annoyed look, then winced as something clanged loudly in the hangar. "I was just trying to be friendly," she mumbled.

"Don't be friendly with Marines," he advised. "Apparently, they tend to think the best way to show friendship to someone is to feed them alcohol until they can't stand anymore."

She staggered to one of the chairs and sank gratefully into it. "I hate hangovers," she muttered.

Nick took pity on her and grabbed a towel from the small bathroom. He wetted it with hot water from the tap and gingerly placed it on Judy's forehead, folding her ears back along her head. "Feel better?"

She gave a pleased moan and sank further into the seat. "Much." She opened one eye and smiled up at him. "Thanks, Nick."

He smiled back. "That's why you love me."

"Do I?" She grabbed his paw and pulled him closer. "You know, I think I do."

From the doorway of the shuttle, Barker cleared her throat. Nick and Judy just looked at her. "What?" said Nick, annoyed. "Everyone knows we're together."

"It's not that," said Barker. "I just didn't want to embarrass you two, so I just wanted to let you know I was here." She made her way to a seat and sat down.

"Oh," said Nick, feeling slightly ashamed of his defensive reaction. "Thanks."

He settled in next to Judy. She immediately snuggled closer to him, murmuring something sleepily.

Barker eyed them with an odd expression. "Is it hard?" she asked, in a quiet voice.

Nick looked over at her. "Is what hard?"

"The, um." She stopped, looking unsure. Nick's eyebrows raised. _Barker_ was unsure? She always gave off this aura of all-knowingness. "Your relationship. Different species."

"It's not always easy," said Nick. He looked down at Judy, her head now pillowed in his lap. "But it's worth it."

Barker nodded slowly. "Yeah." She settled back into her seat and looked out the window. "Yeah."

As Nick, curious, was trying to decide whether to draw out the wolf further, the cabin address came on.

"This is your pilot speaking," said Bonnaire. "Normally, I wouldn't set foot in this flying school bus, but I figured I might as well take this one last chance to make you guys lose your lunch. Lose your lunch again, in the case of a certain bunny who decided to try and outdrink some Marines."

Judy glared up at the speaker.

"So, welcome to Air Nike. I will be your captain. My first officer is Ensign Jefferson. Say hello, Jefferson."

Another voice came on. "Hello, Jefferson."

"Too predictable," said Bonnaire disgustedly. "We will be taking off in about two minutes, from the strike cruiser _Nike_ and travelling to Loronar Spaceport in First Landing. The total flight time will be about forty minutes, unless I can figure out how to disable the speed governor on this thing, in which case I should be able to drop it to five minutes. I think I'll just crack open this instrument panel here-"

Jefferson's worried voice interrupted. "Ma'am, I don't think you should-"

"No, no, don't worry. I'm pretty sure I remember where all these wires go. Hey, what's this?" There was a crash. "Huh. Hope we don't need that."

Barker and Nick exchanged looks. "I think she's joking," said Nick, a bit nervously.

The wolf shook her head. "Humans."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was the second world that Nick had seen from space, and again, he stared in awe.

It looked similar to Terra in a broad sense- the blue of ocean, the green of land. But there was less green, more yellow and brown, particularly toward the center of the vast continent they were heading towards. And- he squinted. "What's all that grey?"

Barker glanced at him, looked out the window. "Yeah, that's First Landing. The city is so large you can see it from space."

Nick's jaw dropped. Even the largest cities on Terra hadn't been visible, at least not from this high up. "It's that big?'

"Population concentration," said Barker. "They have a pretty sophisticated point defense system which provides the whole planet some protection, but the city is sort of where everything is focused. Doesn't mean a missile or kinetic strike can't get through, but they can frequently deflect or disrupt a minor attack. Out in the less populated areas, though- that's where the raiders frequently land. By the time the militia- that's sort of like a part-time military- gets there, the raiders will have killed or captured some portion of the population."

"So nearly everyone lives in the city," said Nick. "Are all human planets like that?"

"Most of them are," she answered. "Except planets where the population is too small to concentrate like here. You know Alphacen has only about half the land-mass of Terra, right? And it's all one big continent, so the interior is a big desert."

Nick shook his head. "No, I didn't know that."

"So they have about as much population, crammed into a much smaller living space as is, even without the defense considerations." She watched silently as the clouds rose around them, the shuttle making entry into the atmosphere. "I think it might explain a lot of their crime. Humans aren't herd mammals. They don't do well with crowding."

Nick contemplated that. Beside him, Judy gave a yawn and glanced out the window. She jumped slightly. "Are we already entering the atmosphere?" She poked Nick. "I wanted to see the planet from space."

"Sorry, Carrots. From where I was sitting it looked like you wanted to sleep and forget about that hangover."

She gave him a cool look and bounced over him to stand on the seat nearest the window. "Wow," she said, awed, as they broke through the cloud cover.

The city of First Landing stretched out below them.

With space at a premium, the humans had a strong tendency to build upwards instead of outwards. Vast apartment blocks, office buildings, and other structures whose purpose Nick could not readily determine climbed above smaller buildings. At first, it seemed much like any other city he had seen- just maybe more of it- but Barker shook her head when he voiced the thought.

"Wrong sense of scale, Wilde." She pondered for a moment as they drew closer. "Wait, there. See that?"

They were close enough now to the ground that Nick could make out a ship of some sort, miniscule next to a squat building near the shoreline. "Yeah. It's what, like a private yacht or something?" He couldn't make out any details on the vessel just yet.

"That's a supertanker," said Ruth dryly.

Nick blinked as he compared the apparent size of the ship versus the apparent size of the shoreline building- "That one building-" he stopped.

"Is roughly the size of, say, the Rainforest District back in Zootopia," confirmed Barker. "They call them arcologies- one building cities, essentially. And there's something like a hundred-plus of them in First Landing."

Judy looked at Barker, then at the building. "So those tiny buildings around it-"

"Are skyscrapers," said Barker. Her voice held grim fascination. "You see what I mean, though?"

"About what?" asked Nick.

"About being crowded." She gestured at the city. "Packed in like sardines into a city so large that the biggest buildings back on Zootopia look like toys. Unable to move out to the rural regions because of the constant threat. Look," she said, pointing. "That lake."

A nearly perfectly circular lake could be seen through a break in the nearby buildings. "Looks pretty," said Judy.

"It is," said Barker. "That's the Crater Lake, caused by a bombardment way back when First Landing was pretty much destroyed in-" she paused, scrunching up her nose in thought, "-the Third Drexian War, I think it was?"

Mentally Nick and Judy measured the crater, then tried to imagine an explosion that could cause it.

"They're different," said Barker quietly. "They've been under threat so long, all alone out here in the galaxy, with no one to help them. They can be friendly, even kind." She shook her head sadly. "But don't forget the differences. At the end of the day, they have only one goal as a species."

The spaceport drew closer, orderly lines of craft approaching or leaving it. Nick and Judy watched as several fighters flashed past the waiting lines, engines screaming as they shot towards the sky above.

"Survival," finished Barker.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Louis Wu bounced nervously on his feet as he waited in the spaceport terminal.

A few passersby gave him odd looks- nervous policemen never spell good news- so he forced himself to stand more calmly. The arrivals section of the airport was packed with people. He saw a burly Rodinian man, with an equally burly wife, herding not-yet burly kids along. Two businessmen with the soft, pale skin of Adamant walked slowly past, talking in low tones. Once he schooled himself to stillness, most paid him little attention.

His nervousness was partly because Hunter's email had left little room for doubt as to what would happen to him if any harm were to come to Wilde and Hopps. It had gone into exhaustive detail in sections, including words and phrases that Wu was more used to seeing in transcripts of autopsies. Hunter had probably been exaggerating, of course.

Wu considered several times where he had assumed Hunter was exaggerating and had promptly found out otherwise.

Hunter was _possibly_ exaggerating.

He felt more than saw the approach of Mika Arrizondo from behind him and turned to look at her. She handed him a cup of coffee. "Any sign of them yet?"

Wu shook his head, taking the coffee gratefully. "They should be landing right about now, though." He turned to look anxiously back at the gate.

Arrizondo chuckled at his concern. "Hey, Hunter's bark is worse than his bite," she said teasingly. "Nothing a tough, street-smart sergeant like you needs to worry about."

Wu gave her a wry look. "Easy for you to say. You were one of his rookies. He always looks out for you guys."

"It's like having a guardian angel," confirmed Arrizondo. She frowned. "A crazy, sarcastic guardian angel, but I'll take what I can get."

Wu chuckled, but there was, in fact, another reason he was nervous. Though it was a good kind of nervous, considering. He sipped his coffee.

"So didn't you pair up with the wolf, whatshername, Barker, when she was here?' asked Arrizondo casually.

Wu, through intense training and experience, had learned to keep a tight rein on his emotions. So he did not spit out his coffee, but instead managed to swallow it and say, in a reasonably calm voice, "What?"

The younger cop gave him a frown. "As partners. You know, solving crime together. A boy and his dog."

"Do not call her that," warned Wu. He paused. "And don't call me that, either. I'm older than you and outrank you."

Arrizondo gave him an impish smile and continued watching the arrival gate.

There was a slight disturbance in the crowd up ahead. People stopped, gawped, some pulling out cell phones or even cameras.

Wu sighed. "That's them."

Sure enough, the crowd parted enough to reveal three Terrans, being escorted by a uniformed pilot- Wu blinked. He'd done his time in the Fleet when he was called up. He tried to remember the last time a Lieutenant Commander flew a shuttle and came up with "never". That was low-level duty.

The pilot saw them and all four of the new arrivals headed towards Wu and Arrizondo. Wu instinctively saluted as the commander approached. "Good morning, ma'am."

She returned his salute, amused. "You technically don't have to salute me, Sergeant."

Wu shrugged as he dropped his hand. "I was a Spacer First Class when I left the Fleet after my five-year hitch. I was used to saluting anything that moved."

"Fleet, eh?" She eyed him speculatively. "What ship?"

"The _Oedipus,_ commander. We spent most of the time on the Karathi border."

"Call me Wendy, sergeant. You're not Fleet anymore- well, except on reserve status." She shook his hand. "The Karathi border, huh? Saw a bit of action, then?"

Wu nodded. "They never really let up, you know."

"No, they don't. We got jumped by a stealth group about the middle of the Wolf 359 transit," she replied.

Wu turned pale. "You did?" he squeaked. His eyes ran over the fox and rabbit. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine," said the fox, looking surprised at his reaction. "I'm Nick Wilde, by the way. This is my partner Judy Hopps, and this is-"

The other reason he was nervous. Wu met Barker's gaze. "We've met," he said quietly.

"Hello, Louis," said Barker, her eyes dancing with amusement. "Did you miss me?"

He reached for her paw to shake, but found himself enveloped in a hug. "I, uh-" he gave up and hugged her back. "Yeah, Ruth."

She pulled back to study him. "You've been promoted. How remarkably reasonable of FLPD."

"Yeah, well, with Hunter gone the average sanity of the department rose about three points," said Wu. He looked her over. "You're looking well, too."

She smiled at him. "Thanks."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick and Judy looked between Barker and Wu, surprise in their faces. Nick leaned closer to Judy. "Is it just me, or are they-"

"-looking at each other like you and I do?" finished Judy. "Definitely."

Arrizondo, seeing her superior distracted, knelt down to put herself at eye level with the two smaller Terran mammals. "Hi!" she said in the bright tones of someone talking to small children. "My name is Mika!" She held out a hand.

Nick smiled broadly and took it. "Hi, Mika! My name is Nick. I'm in my mid-thirties and have a confirmed space fighter kill."

"He does," said Bonnaire, who was watching Arrizondo with an amused smirk.

The young police officer flushed red with embarrassment, one hand flying to her mouth. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I guess I was doing my talking-to-kids bit, wasn't I?"

"Any minute now I thought you were going to offer me an FLPD sticker," confirmed Nick. "Or tell me what a fine-looking young mammal I was." He studied Arrizondo critically. "Well, you and Carrots- Judy- will get along fine."

Judy looked at him, a bit surprised. "Why do you say that?"

"Because she's as easy to fluster as you are," said Nick smugly.

Arrizondo stood up and fixed him with a mock glare. "Oh, I see. You're one of those. Is that Hunter's influence, or are you two just naturally similar?"

Nick narrowed his eyes at her. "Smile when you say that," he warned.

Judy rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him, we're still working on letting him out in public."

"Hey!" protested Nick. "I can be really charming when I want to be."

"The trick," said Judy, still talking to Arrizondo, "is getting him to want to be."

Arrizondo laughed. "Okay, yeah, you two are definitely cops." She glanced speculatively at Wu and Barker, still ensconced in their own private conversation, and from the look of it, their own private world. "I'll go get the car pulled around to the front. Meet you guys outside."

After she left, Bonnaire knelt down next to Judy and Nick. "Well," she said. "Looks like this might be it for a while."

Nick shook her hand. "Thanks, Wendy."

"For what?" she asked, surprised.

"For being a friend," he said simply.

She smiled. "You looked like you could use one. And speaking of things you can use-" she cautiously looked side-to-side and reached into a pocket of her flight suit. "Here."

Nick took the small device she held out. It was flat, with a button covered with a small sliding door that prevented it from being pressed by accident. "What's this?"

"My crew chief whipped it up," said Bonnaire. She handed a similar one to Judy. "It's essentially the important bits of that energy weapon you used in the boarding action. Well, minus a good chunk of the power cells. They're only good for about thirty shots, though it can be recharged with any wall socket." She grimaced. "Though don't ask about the power bills you'll incur."

Judy nearly dropped the weapon. "This is a laser gun?"

"Sure," said Bonnaire. "More or less. Look, First Landing can be pretty dangerous." She scanned the crowd. "Especially right now." She looked back at the two smaller mammals. "Especially for Terrans."

She stood up again. "I don't know if I'll see you guys again," she said, somewhat sadly. "So this is it."

Nick snapped a jaunty salute. "Thanks, commander. For everything."

"You watch your six, Hustler," she said. With that, she turned and left.

 _Author's Note: I very nearly gave Nick the call-sign "Starfox" but decided that if I was using the "Fox [Number]" call for missile launches they wouldn't give him a call-sign that could be confused with that. I think "Hustler" is a pretty good one for him, though._


	20. Chapter 19- A Whole New World

Chapter 19- A Whole New World

Hunter grunted as he was pushed against the side of the patrol car, feeling the wolf's paws in his pockets as he was roughly searched. "Good grief, Howland, if you're going to search me like that you should have at least bought me dinner. And there should be a safe word or something."

"Hunter, this is weird enough without your commentary," said the wolf cadet.

They were practicing searching techniques. Each cadet had hidden something- a simulated weapon, contraband, or whatever- on themselves and the other cadets were conducting searches of them. Friedkin, wandering around keeping an eye on things, cast a critical eye on Howland. "Keep control of those cuffs, Howland," she said.

"Yes, major," replied the wolf. He tightened his grip on Hunter's cuffs slightly, eliciting a wince of pain from the human.

"Banana! That always makes a good safe word, right? Banana!"

"Hunter," growled the wolf in exasperation.

Friedkin came closer. "Much as I hate to admit it, Howland, Mr. Hunter is doing a fairly good job of simulating a crook. Most of them don't know when or how to keep their mouths shut, either."

The wolf pulled a plastic toy knife from Hunter's boot. "Got a knife," he said in satisfaction.

"Yeah, but where did I hide the _other_ knife?" said Hunter.

"I've searched everywhere-"

Hunter twisted around and waggled his eyebrows. "Not quite _everywhere."_

The wolf's face froze, then twisted in disgust. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Relax," said Hunter, turning to face him fully. "Just yanking your chain. All right, my turn."

He was uncuffed and, using proper techniques, cuffed up Howland. "All right," said Hunter cheerfully. "We can do this the hard way or the easy way."

"Um, what?" asked Howland nervously.

"Hunter," growled Friedkin.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," said Hunter. He started at the wolf's shoulders, scrunching his shirt, working his way from top to bottom. "Let's see," he mused. "You're a wolf, with great big claws and teeth, so I'm guessing you wouldn't have gone with one of the fake knives." He checked the wolf's waistband. "You can't really hide one of the guns anywhere except the waistband, so that leaves- contraband. And you think you're cleverer than you really are- no offense-"

"You know saying that doesn't actually make it less offensive, don't you?"

"-so I'm thinking...here." Hunter pulled a small packet of flour- intended to simulate drugs- from where it had been wedged in the wolf's belt buckle. He held it up critically. "Not bad quality. Street value might be two, even three cents." He held the packet in front of the wolf's eyes. "You better talk, Howland, this is enough to get you seconds, even minutes in prison."

The wolf rolled his eyes. "Hunter-"

"I'm serious. Listen, we don't want you. You're small fry. A little bit of flour like this ain't nothing." He shook it. "We're after the big fish. You know who I'm talking about, don't you?" Hunter narrowed his eyes. Howland gulped as he met his gaze. "So tell me, wolf. Do you know- the Muffin Man?"

Howland blinked. "The Muffin- Man?"

"The Muffin Man," said Hunter, nodding seriously. "Because I only know one mammal who deals in this kind of stuff-" he held up the flour, "-but this isn't even enough for him to get started. I want the weight, wolf. So talk."

"This is a searching exercise," said Friedkin, who had been watching in bemusement. "Not an interview and interrogation class, Hunter. If you're done, uncuff him."

"All right, all right," groused Hunter. He uncuffed the wolf, who rubbed his paws and watched Hunter apprehensively. "But we'll never catch the flour dealers if I'm not allowed some leeway, major."

Friedkin ignored him, glancing at her watch. "All right, cadets, you all have an hour for lunch. Be back in the classroom at 1300 on the nose!"

Howland sidled up to Hunter. "You know, if I really had been a dope dealer, I would have told you where I got the stuff."

The human glanced at him incuriously as he replaced his cuffs. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He leaned in a bit closer. "So how do you do that thing with your eyes?"

"Thing with my eyes?"

"Yeah, the crazy eyes." He blinked at Hunter. "Hey, you're doing it now."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi walked onto the Academy grounds and found Hunter in the cafeteria. He had a small compact mirror- presumably borrowed from one of the female cadets- and was studying himself in it. There was a partially-eaten vegetable curry in a bowl in front of him.

The mongoose walked up. She was in uniform, as she was currently on her lunch break from patrol. "Relax, Hunter, I don't think your makeup is on too thick."

He jumped, snapping the compact closed. "What? Oh, very funny." He frowned down at her as she jumped up onto the adjacent seat. "Do I have crazy eyes?"

"Yeah," she said. "So anyway, I've been thinking."

"I do?" He opened the compact up again. "Really?"

"About Lucas," she said.

Hunter froze. He slowly closed the mirror and looked at her. "What about him?" he asked, very calmly. Too calmly.

"What was he after?"

"Oh, you know, the usual megalomaniacal evil genius stuff. Revenge, immortality, the chance to play God." Hunter shrugged. "So?"

"Well, immortality and 'playing God' sound familiar?" asked Tavi. "Isn't Prometheus prophesied to save mammals from sin and death?" She'd spent some time reading the Naturae Libri that Nick and Judy had been given, and now she pulled the book out of her bag and put it on the table with a thump. "Here, read this."

Hunter leaned over. "And Auroch begat Mefurselah, who begat Camelech, who begat-" he stopped. "I don't get it."

Tavi rolled her eyes. "Not that part, here." She tapped her claw against the book.

"And Mefurselah was blessed by Nature, and all the days of Mefurselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years." He shrugged. "It's an ancient book, Tavi, I wouldn't take it seriously."

"Uh-huh. So I've got a great-great-aunt."

Hunter blinked at the sudden change in subject. "Congratulations."

"She's currently ninety-five years old," said Tavi.

"And still as spry as a spring chicken, no doubt. Tavi, what's your-"

"Do you know how long primitive mongooses used to live? Before we were evolved?" She looked at Hunter. "About twenty years."

"Well, sure," said Hunter. "Obviously that was part of how you were changed. Made to live longer, more like human life-spans."

"Okay. And if you could expand a mammal's life span by four or five times, why stop there?"

Hunter stopped short, thinking it over. "You think that's why Lucas was experimenting on Terrans," he said slowly. "To try and find out how your lifespans were increased."

"And thus, possibly, becoming immortal." Tavi sat back in satisfaction. "And he was working for Prometheus."

"Yeah," said Hunter. "Prometheus said he was doing this for humanity, to ensure the survival of the species. So that makes sense. But what does he want with me?"

Tavi shook her head in frustration. "I don't know."

"Neither do I," said Hunter. He decided to change the subject. "Any word on the DNA from that super-wolf?"

"They've got a rush on it. Nothing so far- doesn't match anything in any of the databases. Most mammals aren't in the database, though."

"Yeah, just violent criminals," said Hunter. "Or mammals that have been investigated before and DNA taken. I was kinda thinking that super-wolf might have been one of those violent criminals."

"She was violent with us," said Tavi.

"And how. Oh, is Shepherd doing okay?"

"Hmm?" said Tavi, distracted. "Oh, sure. He's fine. The speech problem is fixed, now. Apparently he has pretty good self-repair capabilities. That wolf damaged a-" she scrunched up her forehead, trying to remember the words, "-peripheral motility sub-processor, I think he said."

"Motility? I'm no expert, but that sounds like it just controls his motion. Explains the damage to his right-side grav unit, but not the speech thing." Hunter turned back to his food.

Tavi shrugged. "It's all connected, from what I gather. He seems fine now, though."

"So what's our next step?" Hunter took a bite of his vegetable curry.

She gave him a surprised look. "You're asking me?"

He nodded at her. "You've been doing a lot of the legwork, Anila. I've been stuck here in kindergarten."

"Well, um...can you give me a hint?"

The human smirked at her. "It's not a test, Tavi. I honestly am not sure where to go next with this, at least not until maybe they can tell us more about that wolf."

She rested her head on her elbows, on top of the table, thinking. "Well, we probably won't get much from the Fellowship church fathers- they must be forewarned now."

"And it doesn't seem like them thinking I'm a god or whatever will make them cooperative." Hunter scowled. "That still seems unfair."

"What other leads do we have?" mused Tavi.

"Well, let's see." Hunter started ticking off points on his fingers. Tavi pulled out a notebook and pen. "Lucas and the other higher-ranking members of the group involved in the Raid are dead, but there are still a few XSO soldiers that were captured."

"In some top-secret hole somewhere," pointed out Tavi. "We won't have access to them."

"Well, we've got the Fellowship. They may not talk voluntarily, but we could just start interviewing them one by one. Eventually someone will let something slip."

"That's a possibility," said Tavi. She wrote it down.

"Then there's super-wolf. We should check the ZPD files, see if there's been anything weird involving wolves."

"It's the city, Zach. There's plenty of weird to go around."

"You know what I mean," said Hunter.

They sat for a long moment. "Not much to go on," said Tavi, looking at the two items on her list.

Hunter sighed. "Yeah, it happens in every investigation. Maybe Nick and Judy will turn something up. I keep thinking that where I ought to be is back on Alphacen."

"What?" said Tavi, jumping up. "What do you mean?"

Hunter looked at her in confusion. "For the investigation, Tavi. I think that's where the answers are."

"Oh." Her ears laid back flat self-consciously, Tavi sat back down. "Right." She forced a smile. "I mean, you can't go back anyway. You're still a criminal to them."

"Yeah," said Hunter, the pardon heavy in his pocket. He still hadn't told anyone about it.

He wasn't sure why.

"Well, Judy will turn something up," he said after a pause. "She's a very determined bunny."

Their phones beeped simultaneously, and both pulled them out of their respective pockets. "Well," said Hunter, when he saw where the call came from. "Speak of the devil."

 _To: zhunter_

 _From: jhopps_

 _Subject: Everything's Okay!_

 _Hey, Hunter. We just arrived and everything's just great, no need to worry. Really smooth trip, Nick and I slept through most of it. There were no Karathi raiders. Just wanted to let you know we're okay._

 _Met with Sergeant Wu. He seems nice._

 _Love,_

 _Judy_

Hunter read the email. He looked at Tavi, who smiled nervously after she'd read her email. "So they're okay."

"Yeah," said Hunter suspiciously. "Took you a lot longer to read your email than it did for me to read mine."

Tavi hurriedly replaced the phone. "Gosh, is that the time? You've got to get to class."

"Tavi-"

"And I've got to get back to patrol. Bye, Zach!" She jumped off the seat and hurried out.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Judy's phone beeped. She glanced at it, and kept walking.

"Hunter again?" asked Nick casually. They were unpacking their things in their hotel rooms. They'd requested adjacent rooms with a connecting door, which the hotel had been all too happy to provide. The government was paying, after all.

"Yeah," said Judy. She frowned. "I don't think he believed my email."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because he keeps writing me saying, 'I don't believe you. What happened?'"

"What did you write anyway?" Judy thumbed back to the original email she had sent and showed it to Nick. He read it, and rubbed the space between his eyes with one paw. "Really, Carrots?"

"What?"

"Never deny anything unless you're specifically forced to," he said. "I mean, come on, you had parents, you must have occasionally lied to them."

"No!" she protested. Then she paused. "Well, not about anything important."

"Next time, let me write the email."

"I was space-lagged."

He grinned and squeezed her shoulder. "And hung-over. You feeling better?"

She nodded as she smiled up at him. "Yeah."

"Well, I was thinking- since we have a free day before our schedule starts- we could go see the sights."

"Ooh!" The bunny's ears stood straight up. "Yes! They have a police museum at the main FLPD headquarters- supposed to have artifacts over a thousand years old! And then we could go by the municipal courthouse- what?"

Nick coughed. "I didn't say anything."

"No, not verbally."

"Look, we're in the largest city in the Human Stars. We're going to spend the next few weeks doing nothing but diplomatic stuff, primarily involving police mammals. Maybe we should spend our free time doing something else?"

"Like what?" she asked.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Arrizondo stretched as she sat in the overstuffed sofa outside Nick and Judy's room. "This assignment isn't half bad," she said appreciatively. "I could get used to guarding people in five-star hotels."

Sergeant Wu, sitting in another sofa across from her, shook his head. "Yeah, Mika, just keep thinking that. All I can think about is that it was Hunter who got us this duty."

"And we should be thanking him," said Arrizondo. "I knew having him as my field trainer would pay off one day. Like I said, it's like having a crazy guardian angel."

The door to Judy's suite opened and Nick poked his head out. "What sorts of sights do people go to see here, anyway?"

Wu and Arrizondo looked at one another. "The Colonnade?" suggested Arrizondo.

"Too crowded," said Wu. "Victory Square?"

"Too boring." Arrizondo looked thoughtful. "How about Loronar Gardens?"

Wu choked. "What? Do you have any idea how expensive that is?"

"Isn't the government paying?" asked Nick innocently.

There was a pause.

"Loronar Gardens it is," said Wu, smiling.

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"So," said Judy brightly as they got into the car. She ignored the curious looks several patrons of the hotel were giving her and Judy. "What exactly is this place?"

"Well," said Wu. "It's the fanciest arcology in the city. One of the biggest, too. The whole thing is one big artificial environment- sort of like Zootopia, from what I've heard."

Barker, who had somewhat reluctantly agreed to come, leaned forward, her muzzle very close to Wu's. "Not as advanced," she said. "Zootopia keeps the various habitats the way they are even being open to the sky. Loronar Gardens is a closed system."

"Part of it is simply a sort of wilderness- I guess preserve is the wrong term? Part of it is incredibly expensive housing for the super-rich, and then there's a mall, a large number of casinos-"

Nick's eyes lit up. "Casinos, you say?"

"No!" said Wu sharply. "It's far too crowded in there. And we'd stick out like sore thumbs."

"Oh, come on, sarge. What's the big deal?" asked Arrizondo from the back seat, next to Barker. "They've got top-notch security there."

"The big deal is that we're here to keep these three safe, and it'll be damned hard to do that on a busy casino floor," said Wu. "And their security may be top-notch, but their bosses are all crooks. We'd be walking into the lion's den."

"The lion's den?" said Judy. "What, like where a lion keeps his computer and work desk and things?"

Wu gave her a sidelong look. "What?" He shook his head before she could answer. "Never mind. Look, Hunter made it very clear that if anything happened to you he would rip out my gizzard. To start with."

"Humans have gizzards?" said Nick, surprised.

"No," answered Wu. "But I don't know if Hunter knows that, leading to the possibility that he would rip out various organs until he found one he thought might be a gizzard."

"He's actually pretty nice when you get to know him," said Judy defensively.

"I worked with him for almost fifteen years," said Wu. "And I found that he's actually pretty crazy when you get to know him."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Welcome to Loronar Gardens!" said the ticket taker as they came in. She frowned when Wu led them towards the front of the line. "Hey, the line starts-" Her jaw dropped as Nick, Judy, and Barker walked in behind them, followed by Arrizondo.

Wu held up his badge. "We're on secondment to the Ministry of State," he explained. "Diplomatic mission."

The woman behind the counter looked at his badge, then leaned over the counter to look at Nick and Judy. "They're Terrans?"

Nick started to say something, but Judy elbowed him hard in the ribs. "Yes," she said politely.

The other people in line were already nudging one another, whispering, and taking out phones to take pictures.

Nick eyed them nervously. "Feel like an exhibit in a zoo," he muttered.

"They're so cute!" gushed the ticket-taker.

Judy's eyes narrowed.

Wu noticed and hastily caught the ticket taker's eye. "We'd like to go to the-" he hesitated, looked over at Barker. "What do you think, Ruth?"

She looked at the list of locations they could visit. "How about Luyten?" she suggested. "I mean, the jungle, desert, and other biomes will be sort of old hat to us."

"Good point," said Wu. He turned back. "Luyten biome, please."

"All right, that will be-" she stopped as Wu handed her a card.

"Just charge it on here." He grimaced, thinking about the expense report he was going to be filling out. It sort of took away some of the joy of having virtually unlimited credit.

They soon had their tickets and a guide, wearing khaki shorts and shirt and a pith helmet soon appeared. "Hello, folks!" he said, smiling. He scanned the group and blinked when he saw the three Terrans. "Well, I'll be- I mean, welcome!" Taking a breath, he continued. "My name is Ollie, and I'll be your guide to the mysterious world of Luyten today."

Nick leaned closer to Judy, still eyeing the various humans pointing and staring at them as they followed "Ollie". "This is kinda weird."

She nodded. "You know," she said thoughtfully. "Hunter has to deal with this every day."

Nick blinked. "Not the same extent," he pointed out. "We're more used to dealing with different species."

"Sure, but humans?" Judy shook her head. Her ears twitched as she caught the word "cute" being used for about the hundredth time. "I wonder what it must have been like for him."

Barker fell back slightly from where she had been walking with Wu to come up beside them. "It's isolating," she said quietly. "Being the only one of your kind on an entire planet. You start to look for friends whereever you can." She looked back at Wu, her expression suddenly softening. "Sometimes you're lucky enough to find them."

Nick and Judy exchanged surprised glances. "I hadn't thought of that before," said Judy. "No wonder he latched on to us-" she stopped. "Why us, though?"

"When I came to Alphacen," said Barker, "I was around a bunch of policemammals, which helped. Yeah, they thought I was a bit of a joke, but I was still a cop, and cops tend to stick together. But there was always a distance." She hesitated, looking at Nick and Judy. "Louis was the only one who just accepted me as me. Who didn't look at me as a wolf first, but as another cop. And a friend." She nodded to Nick and Judy. "Maybe you two did the same with Hunter." She quickened her pace, falling back in line with Wu.

Judy noticed how the wolf instinctively matched her pace with the human sergeant, falling into an easy, rolling, comfortable gait. "There's something going on there," she murmured.

"Oh, yeah," said Nick.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Now, Luyten is one of our most 'alien' biomes," said Ollie. They were standing outside a massive door, which- judging by the caution signs- was actually an airlock of some kind. "Luyten III, the planet we generally just refer to as Luyten, is what is generally classified as a 'marginally habitable' world. Not because of the atmosphere- it's perfectly breathable- but because of the unique ecosystem. Now, this biome doesn't include any of the dangerous predators native to Luyten. For that you'll need to go to the Luyten Safari. Feel free to ask if any of you fancy some big game hunting."

Nick and Judy both frowned. "Hunting?"

"Yeah," confirmed Arrizondo. "Both ways."

"Both ways?" repeated Judy, confused.

"You hunt the big game, and the big game hunts you," clarified Arrizondo.

Ollie had overheard. "Oh, we almost never lose any hunters," he said, waving his hands. "Maybe only one in twenty, one in thirty."

"One in- hold on," said Nick. "You mean humans pay for the opportunity to potentially be eaten by large, scary predators?"

The tour guide hesitated. "We don't put it that way on the brochures."

"No," said Nick flatly. "I imagine not." He looked at Wu. "Your planet is weird."

"Hey, I'm a cop. You'll get no argument from me."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Luyten was an alien world.

That hadn't sunk in for Judy until they walked through the airlock doors, which were only designed to keep out any contaminants from Alphacen's air. The atmosphere was breathable, with a strange, undefinable odor to it. Her ears were used to picking up the sounds of cars, of horns, of mammals talking- or in the country, the wind, the leaves swaying in the trees, the calls of insects. Here, she heard a strange trilling cry, then a deep, answering ultra-sonic vibration. There was wind, but instead of the soft rustling of leaves there was a soft clacking, or a low chiming sound.

They stood in what looked at first glance like a forest. Until you realized the "trees" were slowly moving, the "roots" actually legs that gradually pushed them along. Instead of the soft leaves she was used to, they had branches with hardened nodules, which made the clacking sound she heard when the wind moved through. The entire area was shrouded in a dim light, and on the "horizon"- which must have been an optical effect of some kind- she could see rosy streaks of dawn. Or maybe dusk?

Nick took a deep breath. "Wow," he said, his eyes somewhat glazed. "It's so- different."

"Luyten," said the tour guide, "has a very slow rotational period- it makes a full rotation approximately every forty standard days. Because of this, the areas in direct sunlight get hot, very hot- and most of the life you're seeing now lives on the edge, where the wind blows constantly. We've cut down the wind for right now for your comfort, however. Because of this, the 'trees' have no leaves- instead, those globes you see gather what sunlight they can to photosynthesize. The trees grow very slowly because of the rather dim light as well as their need to constantly be moving." He patted a "root" that was slowly moving past him. "Not all the ecosystem stays on the move like this, but a large chunk of it does."

They continued walking, with the tour guide pointing out various plants and a few animals. Most were insectile creatures, such as the balloon bug, which looked like a miniature, living blimp. "They live their entire adult lives in the air," said Ollie. "Surviving on nectar- for want of a better word- from plants. Like butterflies, but slower and filled with hydrogen gas. Just a reminder, no smoking please."

Nick and Judy were soon walking paw-in-paw, gaping at the wondrous things they saw around them. The air filled with a sweet scent, the sunrise- for it was a sunrise, Ollie had explained, not a sunset- stayed constantly in the sky. Bird-like reptilian creatures flitted from one moving tree to another, squeaking and growling, but also occasionally making a bird-like trilling song that put a smile on Judy's face.

Something else caught her eye. She nudged Nick, who grinned widely as he saw that they weren't the only ones holding paws. In front of them, Barker had pressed up close to Wu, who had her left paw clasped firmly in his right hand.

"I'm calling that confirmation," whispered Nick. Judy smiled at him and pulled him closer.

They slowed down, the rest of the group pulling ahead slightly. There wasn't really a path- the constantly moving trees made that impossible- so they lost sight of them, though both Judy and Nick could hear Ollie speaking.

"This is beautiful," said Judy quietly, looking around. "I'd never imagined what the worlds the humans had found were like. I guess I kinda thought of them as, you know, just like ours."

Nick looked down at her, her ears lying against her back, her eyes wide as they took in the world around them. "Beautiful," he agreed. "Not half as beautiful as you, though."

She smiled up at him. "Dumb fox," she said. "That's the best you can do?"

He stopped, hesitating. She looked up at him, puzzled, as he swallowed. "I can do better," he said, a bit hoarsely.

There was a pause. "Well?" said Judy, half-jokingly, but as she looked into his eyes her heart began beating faster.

He looked down at her. "You know, Judy, I've been a bit worried with- well, everything, but partly because you're going to promote, and-" he stopped again. "I'm just thinking that, um, maybe if we won't be working directly together, then it would be-"

"Nick-" She was starting to guess what he was going to say, and her eyes widened. "Are you-"

Both of their heads snapped around, their paws reaching for the concealed miniature laser guns Bonnaire had given them, as the branches to their right rustled loudly.

A human stepped through them, brushing away bits of the twigs that stuck to his dark suit. He wore mirrored sunglasses and a hard expression. Nick and Judy immediately drew their weapons, though as his hands were clear of his pockets they kept them pointed at the ground. "Who are you?" demanded Nick.

The man looked them over carefully. "I was expecting someone a bit more, what is the word, formidable?" he said, almost to himself. "Forgive me for my abruptness. I am Casimir Kolchek."

Nick and Judy exchanged confused glances. "Are we supposed to know you?" asked Nick, his voice still suspicious.

"No," said Kolchek. "In fact, you could say it is my business specifically to not be known to you. I have had business dealings with someone you do know, however."

Nick sighed. "You're kidding me."

"Nick?" asked Judy, eyes still on the man, her tone inquisitive. "What have you figured out?"

"Mr. Kolchek," said Nick in exasperation, "is clearly a business partner with Mr. Big."

 _Author's Note: So I know a lot of folks were excited about how fast I was posting, and so the bad news is I'll probably slow down quite a bit. Thanksgiving is coming up, and I've got family stuff like crazy. The good news is that do intend to keep going, just possibly a fair bit slower until we get most of the way through the holidays. This may push back my estimated completion date a bit- I clean forgot about the holidays when I said the end of November. Might be closer to end of December. I'll try and keep it fairly steady, if at all possible- it just might stretch to two or three days a post for a bit. I've also had an incredibly full schedule, because of training and other work-related stuff. Frankly I'm astonished I got so much done, though that was partly because I had Act One figured out. We're on Act Two now and it's going to take me a bit of time to work it out plotwise. Once I have a good idea where I'm going I should speed up again._

 _Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, Nick was about to- not propose, but certainly bring up the possibility of proposal to Judy. She kinda suspects that's where he was going, but isn't sure. Let me know if that came across or not- I'm very much a 'show, don't tell' writer, which can lead to some things being more ambiguous than I intended._

 _The chapter title is of course a reference to the_ Aladdin _song "A Whole New World"._


	21. Chapter 20- Boring Political Stuff

Chapter 20- Boring Political Stuff

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time..." Winston Churchill

"Am I right?" asked Nick.

Kolchek inclined his head gravely. "You are correct, Mr. Wilde."

Nick gave Judy a modestly triumphant look. "See? That shrew is everywhere."

"Shrew?" said Kolchek, looking surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Big," said Nick. Kolchek still looked blank. "He's a shrew."

"A shrew," repeated Kolchek. "As in, a rodent."

"Uh-huh. You didn't know that?"

He hesitated. "Not exactly. How curious." He shook his head. "At any rate, that is not why I'm here."

"Oh?" said Nick, tensing himself. He felt Judy doing the same next to him.

"You are here seeking the one called Prometheus, are you not?"

Neither Nick or Judy said anything, just waited for him to continue.

"Prudent," said Kolchek approvingly. "I have been told that you are aware that Mr. Big also wishes to find Prometheus. Though perhaps not with precisely the same intentions."

"We want to arrest him," said Judy coldly.

"Yes," said Kolchek. "Different intentions. Well, as it happens, Prometheus has been quite active on Alphacen as well. And for much the same reasons as Big, we wish to see him stopped."

"Okay," said Nick. "So what do you want from us?"

"For you to do your jobs," said the human. "To find Prometheus. If needed, we can be contacted to do the rest."

"We'll take care of it," said Judy, her voice firm. "We don't need any help from you."

"Do you not?" said Kolchek thoughtfully. "Well, perhaps I can at least direct your inquiries. There is a man named Lin Tu Liu, a member- a high-ranking member- of the Expansionist Party. He was an associate of Horne's, but too powerful for the purge that followed Horne's arrest to touch."

"All right," said Nick. "So if he's so powerful, how are we supposed to get to him?"

"I chose Liu for a reason. He has certain business interests that can be investigated, and used to pressure him." Kolchek reached into his pocket, stopping as both Judy and Nick raised their weapons. He eyed the devices curiously. "I'm going to assume those are some sort of weapon, though I've never seen anything quite like them."

"Just move slowly,' said Nick.

With exaggerated caution, Kolchek pulled something from his pocket and tossed it to Nick, who caught it. He inspected it. "A flash drive?"

"Yes," confirmed Kolchek. "It should have all you need to put several charges on Liu."

"Convenient," said Judy carefully. "What's the catch?"

"No catch. As I said, Prometheus has ruffled feathers here on Alphacen as well." Kolchek shrugged. "You catch him, we win. Oh, and don't forget- we would be willing to take care of him for you, if you find him."

"I've already forgotten that," said Judy dryly. "I'd say thanks, but I'm guessing it's not needed."

Kolchek smiled tightly. "It's true what they say. You are a clever bunny." He looked around. "I fear First Landing's finest will be back to collect you soon, so I must leave. Be careful, my little friends. First Landing can be a dangerous place." With that, he backed up into the slowly moving forest. In moments, he was lost to view.

Nick inspected the flash drive. "I don't like it, Fluff."

"Neither do I, Nick." She put the tiny laser weapon back into her pocket. "But we can't ignore a lead like this, either."

"Major leader of the Expansionist Party, eh?" mused Nick. "Isn't that like one of the largest political parties on Alphacen?"

"Yeah?" said Judy. "So?' She looked around. "We should find Wu and the others." She started walking determinedly in the direction they had gone.

"Yeah," muttered Nick. "Why would I let a little thing like that bother me?" He followed Judy.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Arrizondo had moved off slightly, giving Wu and Barker some space. Part of Wu was worried about that- he hadn't exactly wanted to give away his relationship with Barker- but part of him was thankful.

The wolf pressed up close to him, inhaling deeply. "How have you been, Louis?"

"You asked that a while ago," he reminded her.

"And you still haven't answered me," she said. "Not really."

The human sighed. "I missed you," he said quietly. "I didn't really expect to see you again."

"I said I'd visit."

"And then travel was cut off between Terra and Alphacen," said Wu. "Getting to see you again at the funeral was- I had expected it to be the last time."

"Not the best way to say goodbye," noted Barker.

"That's precisely what funerals are for, Ruth."

"Not for us," she said. "Maybe 'until we meet again'. Not good-bye."

He stopped, turned to face her. "Ruth-"

She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. "Louis, you were my best friend on this planet. And then you became my best friend anywhere. And then-" she stopped, noticing Arrizondo stepping closer.

"Sergeant?" said Arrizondo.

"Yes, Mika," said Wu, slightly relieved. "What is it?"

"Where are Hopps and Wilde?"

His face draining of blood, he looked around frantically. "Where did they-"

A sudden clacking of pseudo-leaves caught his attention and the fox and bunny appeared through a slow-moving shrub. "Wu," said Judy. "We need to talk."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Wu had stopped them as soon as they mentioned Kolchek, and they had left the preserve, finding a nice, open, random spot far from any potential listening devices or eavesdroppers. Nick looked around. "Wow, nice place," he said. They were in the middle of a broad, marble-paved plaza. In the center, a stepped pyramid climbed high above them, brilliant white in the sun. "What is this, anyway?"

"Police memorial," said Wu, walking up to stand beside Nick as he shaded his eyes to inspect the pyramid. "Each step has about a thousand names." His expression was somber.

"A thousand-" Judy's eyes were wide as she silently counted the number of steps in the pyramid. "How-"

"First Landing has been around a long time," said Barker. "And from what I understand, about two thousand of those names came from the bombardment during the Third Drexian War."

Wu nodded. "We got hit pretty hard. When I came on, some of the oldest officers had been around at that time. They had some stories."

For a long moment, they stared at the memorial. "So," said Wu, turning to Nick and Judy. "You met with Kolchek. Casimir Kolchek."

Tearing her eyes from the memorial, Judy nodded at Wu. "That's what he said his name was. Who is he?"

"Good question," said Arrizondo. "We hear the name a lot, but so far no one's been able to pin him down, exactly. He seems to be a sort of fixer."

"Fixer?" asked Judy.

"A facilitator," explained Nick. "For example, you need a piece of equipment sourced- like, say, a diamond drill for a safe-cracking job- you go to him. You want a money launderer that doesn't ask questions- go to the fixer."

"You want a witness converted to a corpse," said Wu dryly. "He'll find the guy to do it for you. He's bad news."

"So why help us?" asked Nick.

"Presumably he's working for someone," said Wu, shrugging. "Maybe even this Mr. Big mouse back on Terra." He paused. "Crime boss mouse. That still seems weird."

"Mr. Big is actually a shrew," Barker informed him.

"Oh, well, that's entirely different. Perfectly normal behavior for shrews."

"So what do we do with this information?" asked Judy, holding up the flash drive. "Can we start a case on this Lin Tu Liu?"

Both Wu and Arrizondo frowned. "Liu is big," said Wu. "I mean, his brother is the governor of Alphacen. This is so far above our pay grade that visible light doesn't reach us down here."

"So we go higher," said Judy, her face determined. "How far up can we go?"

Wu and Arrizondo looked at one another.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The FLPD Chief of Police, Heinrich Lowe, walked into his office to find two of his officers sitting there. As well as a fox, rabbit, and wolf.

He looked them over, then peered suspiciously at his coffee.

Wu stood up, quickly followed by the others. "Sir!"

The chief, keeping his eyes on the Terrans, slowly walked to his desk and sat down behind it. Wu watched him nervously. "Sir, I'm sorry to bother you-"

The chief held up a hand. Slowly, he drained the coffee, setting it down with a satisfied air. He looked down at his paperwork, read over the first form.

Wu looked nervously at Barker, who shrugged.

The chief flipped over the form, read the back. Finally, he looked up. "Damn," he said, disappointed. "You're still here."

"Sir, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"Sergeant Wu. And Officer Barker, I see. Good to see you again, Barker." Lowe steadfastly ignored Nick and Judy. "You two did some surprisingly good work last time. You also caused me a surprisingly complex headache. The Rangers have come through this office so many times that I'm pretty sure the reason I haven't seen any mice recently is because they've been arrested for questioning." He sat back, folding his hands across his stomach. "But you're here now. What's this all about?"

"Sir, we have reason to believe that Lin Tu Liu has been involved in numerous illegal activities, including gun trafficking, money laundering, and-"

Chief Lowe held up his hand. "I'm going to stop you right there," he said. "Lin Tu Liu is an

extremely respected member of the Chamber, one of the leaders of the Expansionist Party. There is absolutely no way a politician of his caliber would ever be involved in anything illegal."

Judy shot to her feet. "Sir!"

The chief resolutely ignored her. "No, no," he pressed a button on his desk, the intercom to his secretary. "We are not even going to discuss anything of that nature in this office. You got that, June?"

"Yes, sir." There was a pause. "I've activated the EMI. That should disable any bugs."

"Thank you, June."

The other cops all stared at him. "EMI?" asked Judy.

"Electromagnetic interference," said Lowe composedly. "So what's this about Liu?"

"You're office is bugged?" said Arrizondo incredulously. "But you're the Chief of Police!"

He cocked an eyebrow at the much younger officer. "Yes? They'd hardly waste their time bugging a regular patrol officer, would they?" He shrugged. "And I'm not certain it's bugged. But like I said, I've had Rangers traipsing in and out of here in a seemingly never-ending stream of glowering, trench-coated men, so I've decided to err on the safe side."

Wu handed him the flash drive. "Take a look at this."

The chief, puzzled, turned it over in his hands. "It's a flash drive."

"I mean what's on it," said Wu, barely managing to keep from rolling his eyes.

Lowe plugged it into his computer. At first he looked bored, but as he continued reading his eyes gradually widened. After a moment, he looked up from the computer. "Where did you get this?"

Wu looked reluctant, but finally answered. "Casimir Kolchek."

"Kolchek," said the chief. He finally looked directly at Nick and Judy. "I don't think I know you two."

Judy sprang to her feet, snapping to attention. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD, sir!"

Nick stood up. "I'm Nick, Nick Wilde."

Judy glared at him.

"Those names sound familiar," mused Lowe. He snapped his fingers. "You worked with Hunter back on Terra, right?"

"Yes, sir," said Judy. "He's our friend."

"Is he, now?" said the chief. "That's good, he could use a friend. And a few good kicks in the backside."

Nick raised his paw. "That's my job."

"It's what friends are for," said Lowe blandly. "So why did Kolchek come to you?"

He listened as they explained about their conversation with Mr. Big. After they had finished, he looked at Wu and Barker. "Mr. Big?"

"Crime boss shrew," said Wu helplessly.

"A crime boss. _Shrew_." The chief stared at nothing before shaking himself. "Well, it's not the weirdest thing Hunter's been involved in."

"It isn't?" said Arrizondo in surprise.

The chief looked at her flatly. "No."

"So what do we do, sir?" said Wu. "Go to OCU?"

"Organized Crime? No. They're under too much scrutiny- something's bound to get out." The chief leaned back, studying Nick and Judy intently. "You know most of what's scheduled for you two is through FLPD. Showcasing our close relationship or something like that."

"Yes, sir," said Judy, frowning.

"By happy coincidence, I'm the chief of FLPD. So I can work around it." He nodded to himself. "So it's up to you five. Wu and Arrizondo will coordinate with FLPD."

There was a long pause. "Sir," said Wu finally. "Can we at least get back-up?"

"On a case by case basis, I'll approve SWAT and WET- that's Warrant Execution Team-" this was directed at Nick and Judy, "-but keep them on a need-to-know. They like to brag too much to be entirely secure."

The five officers all exchanged looks. Lowe noted with surprise how Barker and Wu, in particular, seemed to say a lot without a word. The sergeant turned back to the Chief. "All right, sir. We're on it."

"You need corroboration before you go after Liu," noted the Chief. "So I'd start there. And brief Officers Hopps and Wilde in on the current political situation here on Alphacen. They need to understand what they're getting into." He stood up.

"Good luck, officers. If you're going after Liu, you'll need it."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Something was bothering Shepherd.

Tavi didn't understand what precisely was wrong with the tank, but he was acting strangely. Instead of quietly powering down at night or when not "on-duty", the tank would hover around the garage, inspecting random machinery, sometimes knocking over things. It was driving the mechanics crazy, especially since none of them had the courage to tell the tank to knock it off.

So they'd found her.

"It's been doing this all day," said the bobcat mechanic who had called her. "Can you make it stop?"

"He," corrected Tavi, watching the tank as it slowly moved past them. It picked up a spare tire and held it in front of an optical sensor. "He's not a thing." Shepherd swiveled a sensor toward her when she spoke, then somewhat hesitantly came over.

"Commander?"

"Shepherd. What's going on?" His behavior had seemed all the world like a frustrated, caged mammal. Pacing back and forth, looking for a way out.

"Nothing to report, commander," said Shepherd. "This unit is fully operational."

"Are you?" she said. "You fixed the damage from the fight with Pandora?"

"Self-repair nanites have effectively returned all functions to a nominal status, commander. This unit is fully operational." The tank seemed to emphasize the last words.

"Uh-huh. So why haven't you gone to sleep for the night? You're driving the mechanics crazy."

"It knocked over an entire shelf of parts," said the bobcat angrily. "We still haven't found everything that got scattered around, and inventory is next week!"

Tavi ignored him, walking up to the tank and resting a paw on his armor. "Shepherd, what aren't you telling me?"

"I have given a full and accurate report, commander."

She waved, catching the attention of the sensor eye. "Shepherd, it's me. Talk to me."

The tank hesitated. "Should I power down for the night?"

"I think it'd be a good idea."

For a long moment, she looked him over. There were a few scratches on his hull where the access port had been wrenched off, but the port itself seemed undamaged. Apparently the self-repair nanites could manufacture a new one on demand, recycling the materials from the old one. "Get some rest, Shepherd. Tomorrow's another day."

"That is a tautological statement, commander."

"Which means true, right?"

The tank hesitated. "Yes, but-"

"Well, then. Go to sleep."

Seeming vaguely disgruntled, the tank hovered silently over the corner of the garage it usually occupied and settled down with a thump. A moment later the engine powered down.

Tavi let out a breath. "Something's wrong with him."

The bobcat gave her a narrow look. "Something's wrong with the autonomous armored battle tank?"

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I'm sure it will be fine."

"Easy for you to say," muttered the bobcat as she walked off. "It's not sitting in your garage."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"All right," said Judy. "So explain this political party set-up you mammals have."

Nick and Judy were sitting on the bed in Judy's hotel room. Wu and Barker had taken the sofa, while Arrizondo leaned against the window seat. "It's pretty simple," said Wu. "So we've got the Chamber, a parliament, right?"

"Okay. And people elect the members of the Chamber?"

"Well, no. Not directly. People elect the members of the various planetary governments, who then select members of the Chamber based on their own internal processes. For example, here on Alphacen, there must be a proportionate number of representatives sent to the Chamber as there are members in the planetary Assembly."

Nick and Judy looked at one another, puzzled. "Meaning?"

"Say the Assembly has one third of its members as Expansionist Party, another third as Protectionists, and the final third as Unionist," said Wu. "Alphacen sends forty-five representatives to the Chamber, so fifteen of each party would be sent."

"But wait a minute," protested Judy. "It wouldn't always work out that well, would it? What if it was fifty-fifty between two parties? Who would send twenty-two and who would send twenty-three?"

"Those are called remainder candidates," said Wu. "And yeah, that's where a lot of political battles happen."

"This doesn't seem simple," said Nick. "Look, what about the parties themselves? What do they stand for?"

"The largest single party is the Protectionist Party," said Wu. "They're extremely pro-military, but focus primarily on defense. They're always pushing for greater domestic reforms, primarily to build up a bigger and better arms industry."

"Okay," said Judy, writing this down in her notebook. "What about the Expansionists?"

"Well, they're extremely pro-military, and view the best defense to be a good offense. They're always pushing for pre-emptive strikes and generally are the most bellicose party."

"Have they been trying to push for an invasion of Terra?" asked Barker worriedly.

"The radical wing has," said Wu. He shrugged. "But they want to invade everyone."

"Liu is a radical," noted Arrizondo. "Or at least, he has pretty strong ties to them."

"Only according to the Protectionist media," said Wu dismissively. "You can't trust everything they say."

"Oh, don't start that Protectionist bias in the media stuff again," said Arrizondo, annoyed.

"Come on," said Wu. "It's so obvious-"

"Um, Louis?" said Barker. The three Terrans were staring, confused, at the two humans. "I take it you two are on opposite sides of the aisle?"

"I'm fairly independent," said Arrizondo, "but the Protectionists make a lot of sense."

"I'm EP," admitted Wu. "But I'm generally not too political. I'm not afraid to take down a crooked politician."

The three Terrans exchanged looks. Barker shrugged. "Fair enough. Let's keep the debate out of it then, huh? So those are the two major parties?"

Wu shook his head. "Those are the two biggest. There's also the Union Party- they're focused on unifying all the human nations. Extremely pro-military, but they generally advocate peaceful means for unification. They're fairly new- only appeared about fifty years ago or so."

"Wait a minute," said Nick. "You've said 'extremely pro-military' for all the parties you've mentioned so far."

Wu and Arrizondo looked at him. "Well, yeah."

"Are there anti-military parties?"

There was a pause. "Not as such," admitted Wu. "Other than the Suicide Party, and everyone's pretty sure they're just a weird joke."

"So why keep mentioning the pro-military thing?" asked Nick, exasperated.

"Because they're pro-military in different ways," said Arrizondo. "The Protectionists want a well-balanced military, capable of responding to various threats in a controlled, proportionate manner."

Wu snorted. "You mean they want a force that can do all things in a mediocre fashion, rather than most things in an exemplary fashion."

"Better than not being able to do them at all!" shot back Arrizondo.

"Okay," said Judy hastily. "I can see there's some disagreement there. Though over what, exactly, escapes me." She reviewed her notes. "So there's the EP, the Protectionists, and the Union Party. The Protectionists are largest, with the EP just behind, and the Union smaller but still important." 

Wu nodded. "That's about the size of it."

Nick sighed. "Do we really have to go over all this boring political stuff?"

"Hey," said Judy, affronted. "How mammals go about designing the means by which they govern themselves is an important and interesting subject of study."

Nick grimaced. "Were you even listening to the conversation? What part of that was interesting?"

"Designed?" said Wu, picking up on what Judy had said. "No, I wouldn't describe our political system as designed. More like accreted. Accumulated. Like a coral reef."

"Or a landfill," put in Arrizondo.

Wu glared at her. "Radical."

"Reactionary."

"Anyway," said Barker. "Moving right along- where does Liu fit into this picture?"

"He's a remainder candidate," said Arrizondo, with one last frown at Wu. "Meaning that when the parties do a deal when the proportions don't match up, he takes a seat for the Expansionists."

Judy and Nick both cocked their heads. "What?" asked Judy. "I don't quite-"

"It's simple," said Wu. "Okay, so say the Assembly needs to send fifteen point five Expansionists to the Chamber. And the Protectionists have twenty point five. They make a deal, sending either an Expansionist or Protectionist as the 'point five' and if it's an Expansionist, Liu takes the seat."

"So, what, they switch off?"

"Not necessarily. The deal usually involves one or more _quid pro quos_. For example, Liu may be required to abstain or even vote for a given Protectionist proposal."

"Okay," said Judy. "But wait a minute. Are these deals public?"

Wu and Arrizondo shook their heads. "Not typically."

"So it's a sort of back-room deal thing? Haven't you ever heard of transparent government?" said Nick, surprised. "Shouldn't something do something about that?"

The two humans shrugged in unison. "Ain't nothing you can do. Forget it, Nick," said Wu. "It's Alphacen."

"So Liu gets to be sent to the Chamber whenever this sort of deal gets struck," said Judy. "That doesn't seem to make him that powerful."

"Actually, it does," said Wu. "Because there's almost always a remainder candidate for the various parties. And Liu is highly respected, so he almost always gets to go- even if it's like a point one five remainder, or something like that. The different political parties all trust him."

"Or he's got something on them," said Barker thoughtfully. She reached over and picked up her laptop. "We know he's into all kinds of criminal activity. What if he's not being chosen as a remainder candidate because he's trusted, but because he's blackmailing the other parties?" She booted up the laptop.

Wu's eyes slowly widened. "Oh, boy," he said. "I'm really starting to regret getting involved in this investigation."

"But think of all the good we'll be doing by bringing him down," said Judy enthusiastically.

The sergeant frowned at her. "Oh, come on. This could bring down a government!"

"She's done it before," said Nick.

"What?"

"Twice."

Wu stared at him, then at Judy. "They made a big mistake bringing you two over here, didn't they?"

Judy smiled at him- a very predatory smile for a cute little bunny. "You have no idea."

 _Author's Note: The political parties of Alphacen do not correspond intentionally or directly with any political parties I know of- they're focused on existential threats more than most modern parties are. So, for example, they do care about social reform- in the context of whether the reform will make it more or less likely that they and their children will be eaten by the Karathi. I try to stay as apolitical as possible._

 _I apologize for the "boring political stuff". Hopefully I made it somewhat interesting, and if not rest assured I won't be focusing on it too much if at all possible._

 _Hopefully someone got the "Chinatown" reference near the end. I'd feel bad if no one did._


	22. Chapter 21- It's Called a Hustle

Chapter 21- It's Called a Hustle

"Okay, so how do we get to Liu?"

Barker tapped a key, scrolling through the information on the flash drive. "There's a lot of money being moved around here," she mused. "But we'd need subpoenas to get anywhere. And lots of detectives. And time."

"If we could pin some of it down, show that it's in reaction to something criminal," said Judy. "You know. Demonstrate that, say, he moved money into an account at the same time payment is made on an arms deal."

Wu looked surprised. "Yeah, that would give us probable cause, at least enough for a subpoena. And probably a search warrant, assuming we could show the money was in the right amount and everything. But we'd have to infiltrate the organization. That's not something we can do on this sort of shoe-string."

"Maybe not," said Nick slowly. He smiled. "Unless we have something he wants."

Judy looked at him quizzically. "Nick? What are you talking about?"

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart," said Nick smugly. She scowled at him as he continued. "Look, I've been told we Terrans are pretty popular among the citizenry."

Barker, watching him narrowly, nodded. "Ye-es," she said, drawing out the word suspiciously. "In your case, inexplicably so."

"Thanks, Ruth, you really make a fox feel loved. So anyway, we have something that Liu wants."

"What?" asked Arrizondo curiously.

Nick stood up and preened. "Why, they have the potential services of an amazingly talented, good-looking, courageous young police mammal."

"Yeah, but do you think Judy would do it?" asked Wu.

"I mean two talented, good-looking, courageous-"

"That's nice of you, Wilde, but I don't respond well to flattery," interrupted Barker.

Nick paused. "Okay. Yes, I should have seen that coming." He shook his head. "Let me put it another way. What politician would miss a chance to pose with us, while being able to say he was working for peace between our two worlds?"

"Oh!" said Arrizondo, her eyes widening. "Yeah. That might work."

"But what's the point?" asked Judy. "What do we ask from him in return?"

"Support for Terran independence," said Nick promptly. "And maybe something more."

"Like what?"

"Hang on, still working that out."

The other cops exchanged looks. "I don't know, Nick," said Barker doubtfully.

"Hey," said Nick, affronted. "This is a con. It's my area of expertise."

She frowned at him. "It is?"

The fox hesitated. "Um..."

"You know," said Barker, her eyes intent on Nick, "I've never been exactly clear on what you used to do before joining ZPD..."

"He sold popsicles," said Judy quickly.

"Popsicles?" said Wu.

"Uh-huh," said Barker, unconvinced. "But you just said that-"

"So, Sergeant Wu, you and Barker seem to know each other," interjected Nick. "Care to expand upon that?"

Barker and Wu looked at each other, their expressions shocked. The wolf's ears laid back along her head, and the human seemed to be holding his breath.

There was a long pause. "I withdraw my objection," said Barker, her voice low.

Wu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Great," said Nick enthusiastically. "So here's the plan-"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I have a cunning plan," said Hunter.

"Oh, God," said Tavi, covering her eyes with one paw.

It was the weekend, and the cadets were on leave. Hunter had caught a train into the city to meet up with Tavi. They sat in a small coffee shop, the same one Hunter habitually came to with Nick and Judy.

"Most of my plans work," said Hunter, offended.

"For you, maybe," said Tavi. "They tend to have some collateral damage."

"What, like Gideon's pies?"

"Or that office building you crashed a tank into. Or the broken window when you helped catch those burglars. Or-"

"Okay, okay." He sipped his coffee. "So this is what I'm thinking. We sneak into the embassy, see, and steal-"

"No," said Tavi.

"I haven't finished yet."

"It started with 'sneak into the embassy and steal', Hunter. You don't need to finish."

"All right, you think of something."

Tavi frowned, thought for a long moment. "Okay," she said eventually. "What do we steal?"

"Well-"

Before he could go on, there was a sudden silence in the cafe. Both of them looked up.

A pale, crew-cut man walked confidently into the cafe. He sat down. "I shall try a Camel Coffee, for here, please."

Tavi heard a low growl from her friend. "Drex," said Hunter, spitting the name. "What's he doing here?"

He spoke loudly enough that, in the silence, the Drex heard. He turned, smiling as he saw Hunter. "Well, what a surprise," said the Drex cheerfully. "Officer Hunter. We meet again."

"Octavius, isn't it?" said Hunter. "I'd recognize that slime trail you leave anywhere."

If anything, the Drex's smile widened. "With diplomatic skills of that caliber, it astonishes me that you normal humans have had so much trouble on this world." He looked Hunter in the eye. "But what do you expect from such an inferior, poorly evolved sub-species?"

Several mammals grabbed their coffee and hurried out the door. Most remained, watching the human and Drex worriedly.

With a visible effort, Hunter reined in his emotions. "You didn't come here for coffee, Octavius."

"Of course I did," he said. "Best coffee in the city. Says so on the sign."

"Cut to the chase. What do you want?"

The barista nervously gave Octavius his coffee. He sipped it appreciatively. "You've seen the news, I suppose? My government, impressed with the capability of the Terrans to live peacefully one with another- a capability normal humans lack- has decided to guarantee their independence."

"Yippee. With that and five dollars you can get a cup of coffee."

"Five dollars?" said the Drex, surprised. He glanced up at the menu. "For coffee?"

"I get a police discount," said Hunter with a shrug. "I don't think they have 'psychopathic genetically engineered freak' discounts."

The Drex sighed. "Why can't you just accept our superiority, Hunter? Why do you humans feel the need to always be in control?"

"Why do you feel the need to constantly claim we're inferior?" shot back Hunter. "It doesn't make us feel like you really want us around. Small wonder we won't let you guys be 'in control'."

"You fear what you don't understand, Hunter. We fear nothing."

The human stood up. "I know, Octavius. That's what's wrong with you."

"Fear is a negative, Hunter."

"It's part of being human, Octavius."

The Drex stood up, looking Hunter in the eye. "Not anymore."

The barista quietly began removing all the breakable items from the counter near Hunter and Octavius.

Hunter moved close to the Drex, almost nose to nose. "All right, superman. You want to settle this right here and now?"

The Drex tensed, but slowly relaxed, as if willing himself to do so. "Consequences," he murmured, seemingly to himself.

Hunter blinked. "What?"

Octavius turned away from him, settling his elbows on the counter. "I have no quarrel with you, Hunter. Your presence is neither advantageous nor disadvantageous to our goals."

Hunter glanced at Tavi, who shrugged. "You're really not good at this 'getting into a fight' thing, are you? What do I have to do, bring your mother into it?"

The Drex sipped his coffee.

Hunter sighed. "Damn. I get the one cowardly Drex."

"Not cowardly, Hunter," Octavius corrected him. "That's impossible for us. Let us say, hm, prudent?"

"Isn't that impossible for Drex, too?"

"With the proper indoctrination, anything is possible, Mr. Hunter." The Drex shrugged. "Humans are so ill-trained." He spared Hunter a contemptuous glance. "Like a puppy that constantly urinates on the carpet."

Hunter started forward again, but stopped when he felt a tug on his pants leg. "Yes?" he said to Tavi, who was watching the Drex intently. "I was in the middle of starting a fight, here."

"I can see that," said Tavi dryly. "And it's too early in the morning for an interstellar incident. Let's go."

For a moment, Hunter looked at her, then he looked back at the Drex. "I'm watching you, Frankenstein."

"Frankenstein was the name of the inventor," said Octavius in a bored tone. "Not the monster. If you're going to insult me, do it properly at least." He finished off his coffee with a long swallow and tossed it in the nearby trash can. "I find the atmosphere of this shop has deteriorated considerably. I think I'll save Mr. Hunter the trouble of backing down and leave myself." He turned and walked out the door.

Hunter watched him go. "Ha," he said with satisfaction. "I win."

"Males," muttered Tavi.

"What?" said Hunter distractedly.

"Nothing," she said quickly. She sighed. "What is it with you and the Drex, anyway?"

"They're nutjobs," said Hunter. "Crazy, arrogant assholes with a profound superiority complex."

"Oh, I see why you don't like them."

"Yeah-"

"They're stealing your schtick."

There was a long pause. "I'm not arrogant."

"Yes, you are." She patted his leg. "But I still love you." The mongoose shook her head. "Speaking of crazy, were you really trying to start a fight with a being that's supposed to be three times stronger than you?"

"Yeah, but-" Hunter stopped, his expression suddenly thoughtful. "Three times stronger," he said musingly.

"Yeah, and tougher, too, from what I understand. Better, stronger, faster-"

"Easy, girl," said Hunter, his voice still abstracted. He walked over to the trash can and fished out a coffee cup.

Tavi frowned. "What have you got, Hunter?"

He held up the coffee cup, the same one the Drex had used. "A hunch."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The next day, Nick was struggling to get his tie straight in front of the mirror when two paws covered his eyes. He waited. "Aren't you supposed to say 'Guess who?'" he asked.

"No," said Judy from behind him, her voice merry. "After watching you try to get that tie on right for the last few minutes I just thought it'd be easier for you with your eyes closed."

"Ha, ha," groused Nick. He turned around. "Go ahead, I know you're dying to do it."

She reached up and adjusted the tie carefully. "There. Perfect." She regarded the fox critically. "You know, the dress uniform looks good on you."

"Not so," said Nick. He struck a pose, one paw on his hip, the other slightly forward. "I make this look good."

She rolled her eyes. "Dumb fox."

He looked down at her, his eyes travelling over her figure, so intently that her breath caught in her throat. "And you make it look gorgeous," he said quietly.

Judy flushed, looking away. "Okay," she amended. " _Sly_ fox. But it won't work. We're going to be late if we don't get going."

He smirked at her. "Got your heart going, did I? A little flutter, perhaps?"

The bunny smacked his bottom, making him jump. He looked at her, a little surprised at her presumption. "Move, fox," she ordered. "The faster we get this over with the faster we can come back."

Still eyeing her, though with a slowly broadening smile, he moved into the main room to pull on his gleaming dress shoes. "You know," he called to her. "We're technically on duty this the entire time we're here on this planet. I'm not certain it's within regulations for us to engage in extra-curricular activities, so to speak."

Intent on lacing his shoes, he was taken by surprise when his tie was suddenly pulled taut, bringing his face level with Judy's, who stood over him. His eyes widened as she glared at him. "Um, Carrots-"

A slow, sultry smile spread over her face. She pulled him close, and kissed him hard on the mouth, pushing her body up against his, her paw roaming towards his belt buckle- and then she stepped back.

The fox looked at her, panting. "Carrots," he said, his voice throaty.

She put a paw on her hip and turned around, looking at him over her shoulder. She wiggled her little cotton-ball tail and the fox let out a low, hungry growl. He took a step forward.

She evaded his grasp easily, dodging towards the doorway. "Five minutes," she said. "And if we're late-"

Another look that made Nick's heart thump against his chest.

"Then there won't be any extra-curricular activities," she said. The bunny disappeared into the next room,

Nick never got dressed faster in his life.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Barker straightened Wu's tie. "Honestly, it's like males of every species are completely unable to work out how a tie is supposed to look," she said irritably.

Wu grinned down at her. "Uh-huh. It has nothing to do with how females of every species feel compelled to fix them, whether they look right or not."

She smiled back, adjusting the tie's knot incrementally. "There," she said with satisfaction. "Much better." She started to step back, only to be pulled closer by Wu.

"And sometimes," he said quietly. "We use the ties to get the females into our arms."

She searched his eyes. "I thought we had decided to put things on hold."

"I think I decided that," said Wu. "Because I thought I'd never see you again. But-"

"It was more than that," said the wolf. "Humans have lived with one species, other humans. The only other mammals like us are dumb animals."

"But you're not," said Wu.

"No," she agreed. "But- interspecies relationships aren't unheard of on Zootopia. Here on Alphacen, though..."

Wu let her go, turned back to the mirror. "Love," he said contemplatively. "Is said to be blind. Like Justice. It's supposed to see not what's on the outside, but what's inside. The true self. The part that makes you, well, you." He turned back to Barker, who was hugging herself, looking down at the floor.

"But it doesn't always work that way," said Barker in a low voice. "You know that as well as I do."

Wu reached over, tilted her face to meet his eyes. "It's about what should happen, what will happen, not what is expected to happen. Or even what actually happens."

He could see tears in the wolf's eyes- tears that he marvelled at, as she was one of the strongest people that he knew. "And what is happening?" she said, her voice almost too quiet to hear.

"You tell me," he said, his gaze steady on hers.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Barker started to move away from him, but he caught her paw with his hand and drew her close.

Nick opened the door to the hotel room and poked his head in. His eyes widened as he saw Barker, her back to Wu, his arms around her waist. "Wow. So it is like that."

Barker unsuccessfully- and not particularly strenuously- tried to pull away from Wu, who responded by pulling her closer. "Now wait a minute- I have a high degree of respect for Sergeant Wu-"

"Is that what you kits are calling it these days?" said Nick cheerfully. "Hate to rush you, but we're going to be late."

Barker finally stopped struggling, leaned her head back against Wu until she could see over her shoulder at him. "Are you going to let me go?" she asked resigned.

He hugged her harder. "Not if I can help it," he said.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The dinner was at a massive ballroom on the northwest side of First Landing, in a massive, towering structure set into one corner of the Riesland Estates. The limo that had been sent to pick up the Terrans- as well as Arrizondo and Wu- pulled up to the curb outside.

Nick got out, his eyes tracing the building as it climbed into the low-hanging clouds. "Please tell me they have an elevator."

"It's on the ground floor, Nick," said Judy.

"How'd you know that?"

"Because unlike some mammals, naming no foxes, I actually research the venue beforehand when conducting an operation." Judy stepped out, taking his offered paw.

"This is a dinner, Carrots, not an 'operation.'"

"Liu is going to be here, Nick. It's all part of the plan. Your plan, in fact."

"Yeah, and I know what I'm doing," he said breezily. "Just watch, Fluff. See the master at work." He sauntered up to the door, nodding at a man who bowed deeply.

"You would be the Terran delegate?" asked the man.

"Yeah," said Nick, affecting surprise. "How'd you know?"

"I, er-"

Nick looked down at himself, then slapped his forehead with his paw. "Oh, right! The uniform, of course."

"Yes," said the man gratefully. "My name is Marek, the _maitre'd_. Is the rest of your party here?"

Nick looked back to see Judy being joined by Barker, Wu, and Arrizondo. The two humans kept their expressions blank. "Yes, that's them."

"If you'll please step this way, Officer-" the _maitre'd_ glanced at his uniform's nametag, "-Wilde, I'll show you to the table."

"Lead on," said Nick grandly. As Judy stepped up next to him, he extended an arm with a small bow. "My lady," he said.

She rolled her eyes at him, but put her paw on his arm. "You're having too much fun with this," she whispered accusingly.

"No such thing," he whispered back. They followed the _maitre'd._ As they walked, Nick glanced back and nudged Judy. "Don't look now, but check out Barker and Wu."

She kept her eyes forward.

Nick nudged her again. "Carrots, when someone says 'don't look now', you're supposed to look."

"She's got her paw on his arm, I imagine," said Judy.

Nick blinked. "Um, yeah. How did you know?"

"A doe knows these things," she said serenely.

As they walked in, they were surprised to see that the tables were all low, only a few inches off the ground. Around them, guests sat cross-legged or, in some cases, reclining. The _maitre'd_ noticed their surprise.

"Ah, I see you have noticed that we are eating in the Arrakhi fashion tonight. The Arrakhi typically eat seated on the floor, you see, and their dishes are often exquisite. A subtle interplay of spiciness and sweetness, with undertones of exotic spices. I think you will enjoy it."

Nick, somewhat grudgingly, had to give it to the humans. They had realized their guests might not want to eat at a standard sized human table- there was no dignified way to sit in a booster seat- and had cunningly avoided the issue by drawing on a human culture that sat on the floor. Judy and Nick would scarcely stand out amongst the low tables.

The _maitre'd_ gestured to a nearby table. "Please, make yourself comfortable- it is customary to use the provided cushions, though you may do as you like. Your waiter will be with you shortly."

Nick gave Judy a paw to help her sit down. She smiled at him. "You're quite the gentlemammal all of the sudden."

"It's the fancy digs," he said, straight-faced. "It brings out the posh in me."

He glanced over, seeing Wu holding out a hand to Barker. She ignored it, sitting down smoothly. The sergeant grinned ruefully as Arrizondo chuckled.

Nick leaned forward. "So, does anyone see Liu?" he asked quietly.

Barker casually scanned the crowd. "No- wait." She picked up the menu and pretended to study it, inclining her head slightly to the right. "Three tables over."

Wu glanced over at the table. "Yeah, that's him. If I'm not mistaken, that's Avendale Raines with him."

"Raines?" asked Judy.

"Another prominent EP leader," answered Wu. "Supposed to be known for his honesty."

"Yeah, but is he actually honest?" mused Nick. "Could be a problem."

"If he isn't?' said Wu.

"No, if he is. Honest mammals are the hardest to con."

Judy looked at the fox in surprise. "That seems strange."

He shrugged. "An honest mammal isn't always looking for short-cuts, for ways around things. They just look at the obvious. You ever hear of the violin scam?"

"Violin scam?"

"The con-mammal walks into a store. He buys something, but then realizes he left his wallet at home. So he gives the proprietor his violin- an old, worn-out one, to be sure, but his most prized possession- as collateral while he runs home for the money. While he's gone, another mammal- say, a fennec fox- walks in and sees the violin. Surprise, surprise- the fennec is a violin expert."

"I know this one," said Arrizondo. "So the- um, fennec fox, I guess- tells the store's proprietor the violin is a valuable antique. It's worth thousands. He offers him ten thousand, say, on the spot for it."

Nick nodded. "But it doesn't belong to the store owner. So the fennec leaves his name and number, and leaves. A few minutes later, the violin's owner shows up with the money. The store owner immediately offers him a thousand dollars for the instrument. After all, he knows he can sell it for ten thousand to that fennec."

"Oh, I see," said Judy. "So the violin really is worthless. And the 'owner' walks away with a thousand dollars for a broken down violin."

"Well, five hundred," said Nick with a shrug. "Because half goes to his accomplice, the fennec. You see what I mean about honest mammals?"

"Yes," said Judy slowly. "If the store owner was honest, he'd just tell the supposed owner that the violin was valuable, and that would be that. But if he's out to make a quick dollar at someone else's expense-"

"He gets taken," said Nick. He glanced over at Liu's table, a grin flitting over his face. "So, Carrots. Ready for the game?"

She smiled at him. "When am I not ready?"

"Good point," he acknowledged. "First step is arranging a meeting. Could go with the classic 'bump and spill'- you know, bump into his table, spill his drink, and profusely apologize."

"Wouldn't that antagonize him?" asked Arrizondo.

"No, for most mammals it just gives them a slight sense of moral superiority, and allows them to be gracious in accepting your apology. Moral superiority is a perfect emotion for a con-mammal's victim." Nick's voice was absent, his expression calculating. He somehow seemed to be studying the room without moving his head from the menu.

Judy watched him curiously. It had been a long time since she had seen him like this- fully involved in the art of the hustle, as it were. His eyes flicked warily, his stance was both more poised and more self-assured. Her sensitive ears could hear his almost unconscious, periodic sniffs of the air. She blinked, as she realized what it was. He was a fox on the hunt.

It should have made her nervous, she imagined. Or even scared. But right now, it just made him almost unbearably attractive.

 _There might be something wrong with me,_ she mused ruefully. _But in a good way._

Nick jumped as he felt a soft paw suddenly tickle his thigh. He gave Judy a mock glare. "Down, doe," he muttered. "I'm working here."

"I can see that. That 'bump and spill' technique won't work," said Judy. "There's no reason for you to be walking past his table."

"Yeah, I can see that," said Nick thoughtfully. "That eliminates a bunch of possibilities."

The first course arrived, some sort of shellfish. Nick eyed it doubtfully. "Okay, so this may be a stupid question, but how do you eat this?" He noted there were several more legs than he was used to on shellfish. "And are you supposed to eat this?"

Judy had gotten a salad. She took a tentative bite and her eyebrows rose. "If it's as good as this salad, it'll be worth it, Nick."

"It's Arrakian sand crab," said Arrizondo. "It's very good. And very expensive. To eat it, you have to crack the main shell like this," she demonstrated, pulling on a leg. The shell made a soft "pop" and cracked open neatly along several seams. "Then dip the meat in this sauce."

Nick realized he could hear similar soft "pops" from nearby tables. "Okay," he said, following Arrizondo's lead. "So pull on the leg like this-"

Instead of the quiet pop, there was a crack like a gunshot and the crab's shell seemed to explode, sending fragments everywhere. Several nearby diners ducked for cover. There was a sudden silence as everyone looked at their table.

"No," said Arrizondo. "Not like that."

Nick looked briefly mortified, but then brightened. "Well, it was a bit more embarrassing than I had planned, but it worked." He nodded at Liu as if in apology. The rest of the cops looked over and saw the EP politician was watching their table curiously. "Part of the shell landed in his wineglass," said Nick. He stood up. "Well, I should apologize to everyone for disrupting their dinner." He winked at Judy. "Wish me luck."

"You? The fox who always says he doesn't need luck?" said Judy, affecting surprise.

"Well, that's true," he said modestly. He leaned closer so only she could hear. "Though from what my nose is telling me, I'm thinking I'm going to get lucky tonight."

Her face flushing red, she pushed him away. "Just go hustle, hustler."

He flashed her a grin that sent a thrill through her spine and sauntered towards the nearest table. "Hello, my name is Nick Wilde- I'm so sorry for the trouble, thought I should come over and apologize-"

 _Author's Note: Lots and lots of house-keeping today, folks._

 _First and foremost, the use of the "blind" metaphor, particularly as it relates to both justice and love, was the idea of Captainprice and Erinnyes- I thought it was a clever double meaning and used it, with their kind permission and consent._

 _Second, I am now on Discord! Name is CodeOne#5769. Feel free to drop me a line if you want to chat, give feedback, rant about lizard people taking over the government- wait, don't chat to me about the last one. That's too much like work._

 _Third, I would like to specifically thank Erinnyes for all his help recently. He helped me get set up on Discord and also provided critical assistance in getting me past some writer's block by being a sounding board._

 _Fourth, for those who haven't followed the reviews and are curious about the Barker/Wu relationship- it's partly for the various Barker/Wu shippers and partly because it meshes well with one of the themes of this story (and series). Frankly, I'd never expect to have written romantic dialogue between an anthropomorphic wolf and a human, but I suppose it is taxing my creative skills._

 _Finally, also thanks to Erinnyes, I will be continuing some Zootopia fanfiction even after Hunter's Peace is complete. Not (at first- I'm leaving my options open) necessarily in the "Hunterverse" but rather planning a Zootopia/Star Wars crossover (where all the SW characters are anthropomorphic mammals- suggestions are very welcome for what characters should be what mammals). This project is on the back-burner until I get done with Hunter's Peace, however, so don't worry that it will interfere. I may post a chapter or two to get it rolling if I get stuck again on Hunter's Peace, though._


	23. Chapter 22- Negotiation Tactics

Chapter 22- Negotiating Tactics

"Mr. Liu?"

The human looked up. Nick had been under the impression- perhaps because of the similiarity in the names- that Liu would look something like Wu, but his skin was paler, his eyes more round. Still, there was a certain degree of resemblance. Nick still had no great skill at reading human expressions, but the politician's face seemed to constantly be in a state of polite consideration- the sort that would make you begin to squirm nervously if you had something to hide.

That is, if you weren't an experienced dissembler like Nick Wilde, of course. The fox smiled ingratiatingly. "I saw you on the television a few days ago. Nicholas Wilde." He held out a paw.

Liu took his paw, still studying him. "Yes, of course, Mr. Wilde- I beg your pardon, Officer Wilde."

Nick waved a paw. "I wanted to come over and apologize for ruining your wine. We're not used to these more, well, exotic foods."

"Not at all," said Liu. He gestured to an empty place at the low table. "Won't you sit down for a moment? I find Terra- and Terrans- fascinating. Oh, this is a colleague of mine, Avendale Raines." He gestured to his companion, who nodded stiffly as he eyed Wilde suspiciously.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Raines," said Nick. He sat down, cross-legged. "Now, you're a leader of the- what was it called?- one of the human political parties."

"The Expansionist Party," said Liu. "Dedicated to seeing humanity not only survive, but thrive."

"Oh? How so?" asked Nick innocently.

Raines answered. "By destroying the enemies of humanity," he said gruffly.

"And rewarding their friends," added Liu smoothly. He tilted his head. "You know, the Terran mammals are much more like humans than many of the aliens we have dealt with."

"Are we?" asked Nick, a bit surprised.

"Yes. You have similar psychologies, social structures, even- within admittedly broad limits- similar physiologies." Liu sipped his wine. "No tentacular manipulating arms like the Larrat, no chitinous exo-skeleton like the Karathi. To me, the Terran mammals are our natural allies against the terrors of the stars."

Something about that last phrase- "Well, as a matter of fact," said Nick carefully. "I've often thought the same thing. I mean, we're all mammals, aren't we?"

"Precisely," said Liu. "Which is why I'm glad to see you here- as a representative of Terra, of course. Though the exploits of you and your companion- Officer Hopps, I believe- make you especially interesting."

"Interesting?" said Nick.

"Yes," said Liu. "Have you considered that you- much smaller and, if you'll forgive me, weaker- mammals defeated a number of specially trained commandos in close quarters battle? Imagine what trained soldiers could do. Not to mention that the reproductive rate of rabbits, in particular, is so high. Not only quality troops, but quantity."

The sudden image of Judy- and her family- being used as cannon fodder for the humans sprang to Nick's mind. With a supreme effort of will, he managed to keep from throwing his wine- or a knife- at the human. Barely. "An interesting idea," he said, drawing on all his experience to keep his voice polite. "You know, maybe we have a common interest."

A smile flitted across Liu's face, there and gone almost before Nick could see it. "Oh?"

"We both want to see relations between the Human Stars and Terra normalize," said Nick. "Maybe you'd be willing to help us with that?"

Liu looked at Raines. "What do you think, Avi?"

Raines leaned forward, eyes intent on Nick. "Depends on what this young man is suggesting."

"Mammal," corrected Nick. "Well, I understand a lot of people here on Alphacen kind of like us. What if we showed that we- and you- were working together?" He shrugged. "We'd get a friend, which is why we're here, and you'd get some good publicity."

Raines cocked his head, considering, then looked to Liu. "It might work. The Terrans are pretty popular with the lower classes. For some reason."

"Because they're adorable, Avi," said Liu dryly. He looked at Nick. "Aren't you?"

Nick narrowed his eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You come up to me- Lin Tu Liu- with an offer that's supposed to be between equals?" said Liu, his voice dripping with contempt. "Wilde, I effectively control most of the Expansionist Party, and have a large degree of influence amongst the Protectionists as well. You are nothing more than a reformed con-man turned police officer." Though Nick tried to hide his surprise, Liu's smile showed he spotted it. "I do my research, Wilde. What's your game, anyway? Trying to persuade me to support Terran independence? Please." He pointed at the fox with his fork. "Even if you weren't- what you are- then your people are still far behind us technologically, culturally, socially. The best- the very best, Wilde- you can hope for is to be a protectorate. The worst you can expect, well." He shrugged. "You've already met the Drex, I hear. They seem nice, don't they?"

This wasn't going well. "Well," said Nick. "Human diplomacy at its finest, I see."

"Real diplomacy isn't about sweet words and empty promises, Wilde," said Liu. "This is how diplomacy actually works. We tell you where we stand- and where you stand- and you decide if you want to bow to reality."

Nick stood up. "I don't think we have anything to talk about, in that case. You've made yourself very clear."

"I flatter myself that I think I have," responded Liu dismissively.

Raines had watched the exchange with bemusement on his face, and now he stood up as well. "Officer Wilde, perhaps we could-"

That was interesting.

"No," said Nick. "I don't think we can."

He turned and walked back to his table, putting as much stiff-backed indignation into his stride as he could.

Judy watched him worriedly as he sat down at the table, his back to Liu and Raines. "Didn't go well, huh?"

Nick surreptitiously checked to see if anyone was looking at them. "Actually," he said with a smile of satisfaction. "I think it went just about perfectly."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter walked into the station just behind Tavi. "Hey, Clawhauser," he said casually, waving at the cheetah behind the desk. "Just going to the lab."

"Um, Hunter?" said Clawhauser as they started to walk past. "You need a name tag if you're going in there."

The human stopped, turned around and squinted at the cheetah. "What?"

"Regs, Hunter. All visitors need a name tag for identification."

Hunter and Tavi shared a look. "Clawhauser, do you think there's anyone in the station that won't be able to identify me?" asked Hunter, exasperated.

The cheetah spread his arms helplessly. "It's the rules, Hunter. I don't make them."

Hunter, grumbling, walked up and took the sheet of stickers that Clawhauser held out to him. "Marker?" he asked. Clawhauser handed him one.

Hunter scrawled something on the tag and pulled the sticker off the backing paper. He handed it back to Clawhauser. "There. Happy?"

"You have to put it on."

Hunter slapped the sticker to his chest and walked away.

A few moments later, they walked into the lab. A white-coated sloth looked up from a counter, a smile slowly- very slowly- covering her face. "Ah...Tavi," said the sloth. "I'm...glad...to...see...you...got-"

"Hello, Hurriet," said Tavi. She bounced onto a chair, then onto the counter, where she looked at the lab results Hurriet held. "So what did you find out?"

"Well...it...seems...that..." the sloth held up a clawed paw warningly, "...and...don't...take...this...the...wrong...way...but...to...be...brief..."

About fifteen minutes later, Hunter sighed. "You didn't find any matches."

The sloth shook her head. "No."

"It took you this long to run the sample through the computers. I thought you said you got a rush job on this," he said to Tavi.

"Hurriet is the fastest technician in the lab," said Tavi defensively.

"Really? Are the other ones dead?"

"Hey..." said Hurriet, possibly offended. It was hard to tell when an expression took nearly half a minute to form on her face. "I...find...that..."

"Then make a complaint to the chief," said Hunter. "I should be retired by the time he gets it. Here," he said, putting down the coffee cup he had abstracted from the diner. "Check this DNA against the one I recovered from the super-wolf."

The sloth's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Drex are genetically engineered to be much more physically robust, fast, and strong. The super-wolf was much more physically robust, fast, and strong. You do the math."

"You think they're related, somehow?" asked Tavi, surprised. "Like, what, the Drex engineered a mammal equivalent of themselves?"

Hunter shrugged. "It's a long shot. But I find it kind of strange that super-wolf showed up just about the time the Drex did, don't you?"

"Well..." said Hurriet. "You...know...what...they...say. Once...is...happenstance. Twice...is...coincidence."

"Three times is enemy action," said Hunter. "Yeah, but I'm not waiting for the third time."

They watched the sloth's slow progress toward the back of the lab. "At least," said Hunter. "Not by choice."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Negotiating tactics," said Nick as they started to leave the dinner. He smiled and nodded at a tall woman whom they had been introduced to earlier. She was the Premier of something or other, as he recalled. He hadn't really been listening.

"What?" said Wu. "Is that really how you start conversations?"

"Liu's refusal," explained Nick. "He's interested. He switched tack too fast in the middle of the conversation- all nicey-nice and then Big Bad Wolf." Nick glanced at Barker. "No offense."

She smiled sweetly at him.

Suppressing a shudder, Nick continued, "He got his flunky, Aven-whatever Raines, to try and keep me on the hook. In fact, any minute now-" he scanned the crowd.

Sure enough, a familiar, patrician face appeared. "Ah, Officer Wilde," said Raines happily. "I apologize for the bluntness of Mr. Liu. He is a worthy man, but sometimes a bit-"

"-of a prick?" finished Nick.

"I- what? No, I was going to say that he could sometimes be somewhat-"

"Jerk-like? Jerky?" Nick looked at Judy. "What's the adjectival form of jerk?"

Raines looked pained. "I cannot apologize enough."

"Try," suggested Nick.

"As it happens," said Raines, apparently deciding to push on through, "we are interested in your offer. The Expansionist Party has had quite a bit of negative press due to some of our wayward members acting stupidly, not to say criminally-"

"Oh, no," said Wu. "Not to say that."

"Just think it," offered Nick. "Really, really loudly."

"You're not making this easy," said Raines, a bit miffed.

"No," said Nick. "Just fun."

"Look," said the politician. "I'm going to talk to Mr. Liu. I think I can bring him around."

"He didn't seem like he really liked Terrans much," observed Nick. "Why should we want to work with him?"

Raines looked at Nick keenly. "You're just a police officer, are you?"

"Yep." Nick returned his gaze coolly. "Just a simple, dumb cop."

"Interesting," said the politician to himself. "Tell me, Officer Wilde. Do you think Terra has a chance against the Human Stars if we decide to extend our protection?"

"I'll answer that question when you answer this one. Do you think the EP has a chance of retaining their voters if they start a war with us cute, fuzzy mammals?"

"The stakes are higher for you," observed Raines.

"Maybe. But that's all a matter of perspective. I'd say we both have something to gain," said Nick. "But it's up to your Mr. Liu. I have other options. The Protectionist Party, perhaps?"

The politician flinched slightly. "Just a cop, Mr. Wilde?" said Raines, looking at him with respect. "I wonder. Please, have my card." He handed Nick an embossed, metal card which had his contact information on it. "I will be in touch."

Nick nodded. "I look forward to it."

Raines melted back into the crowd and the group started walking back to the valet parking area. "Well," said Barker. She looked down at Nick with a new respect in her eyes. "That wasn't half bad, Wilde. Quite the way with words."

He nodded. "Yeah, I word real goodly."

Judy poked him. "I'm starting to see how you made two hundred dollars a day since you were twelve."

"Is that a lot?" asked Wu, curious. "And before or after tax?"

"So now," said Nick quickly, "We move to phase two of the plan."

"Which is?" asked Arrizondo.

"Back to the hotel room, and I'll explain everything."

"We're finally going to hear the whole plan?" said Judy.

"Hey, I need to keep some mystique going here. You'll hear the next part of the plan."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Tavi and Hunter walked out of the lab, they heard a bellow from the offices above them. "Cadet Hunter!"

Hunter kept walking.

"Cadet Hunter! My office!"

Tavi frowned as Hunter showed no signs of slowing his pace or changing direction. "Shouldn't you-"

"Listen, I may be a cadet," said Hunter. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like it. Besides, he doesn't sound too angry-"

"HUNTER!" shouted Bogo.

The human abruptly swerved and walked toward the elevator. Tavi hurried to catch up to him. "I take it he sounds angry now?" she asked dryly.

"TAVI! You, too!"

"Eep!" The mongoose scurried into the elevator.

When the door came open, they found themselves face to face with the ZPD chief. "Hiya, chief," said Hunter casually. "Long time, no see."

"My office, Hunter. And Tavi." Bogo turned and stalked off, his tail flicking in irritation.

Hunter looked down at his dimunitive partner. "What's he angry about now?"

Tavi shrugged. "I think he's only happy when he's angry."

"So this is good news?"

"GET A MOVE ON!" Bogo's shout seemed to rattle the walls.

"Not for us," said Hunter.

They quickly followed Bogo into his office. "Hunter," said the buffalo. "Read this." He tossed the human a stack of papers clipped together.

Hunter frowned down at it. "You print out your emails?" He peered at Bogo. "What century are you living in?"

"Just read it."

Hunter skimmed the email, which proved to be a report from Judy and Nick. Seeing that, he read more carefully- "Oh, those sneaky little mammals," he muttered. "I knew something happened to them enroute." He blinked. "What does Nick mean, confirmed fighter kill?"

"I've been thinking about that one for a while," said Bogo tiredly. "And I still haven't come up with anything other than exactly what it sounds like. Much as I would like to."

Hunter continued reading, passing the papers down to Tavi as he finished each one so she could read them, too. He looked up as he finished. "Chief, I just want to say that I specifically warned Officer Hopps not to overthrow any governments."

"That's probably where she got the idea from," said Bogo. "What I want to know is, should I order her not to do it?"

Tavi finished reading the emailed report and looked up. "Why would you do that?"

"Because taking down a member of the Expansionist Party would tick off a good chunk of the political elite of the Human Stars," said Hunter. "That's if it doesn't go wrong and blow up in their face."

"And they're out of their depth," said Bogo. "Hopps and Wilde are clever, but not really up to dealing with humans, especially human politicians. Humans are sneaky, conniving creatures."

Tavi winced and looked at Hunter, who shrugged. "What? That's pretty fair, really."

"On the other paw," continued Bogo, "They seem to think they'll be able to get Prometheus. That's where I want your opinion."

"You want my opinion?" said Hunter in surprise. "Is it really that desperate?"

"The government thinks it's won some space with this Drex guarantee," said Bogo. "But I'm not so sure. From what the papers say, the Human Stars still won't back down. It's almost as if they want an interstellar incident."

"A provocation," suggested Hunter. "An excuse."

"Exactly. Such as-"

"A diplomatic incident. Like taking down one of the top dogs in the EP. Except- sir, if there is some kind of plot- and we both know there are probably half a dozen plots at any given time- Liu is likely to be part of it. Taking him down might make things better."

Bogo nodded. "Which is why I'm inclined to trust their judgment." He hesitated. "Well, Hopps's judgment. Wilde generally follows her lead." He leaned back. "What's your progress on the Pandora case?"

"Not much," admitted Tavi. "We haven't tracked down that tiger or the, um, super-wolf yet."

"Super-wolf," said Bogo contemplatively. "You know, Hunter, before you came along I never had to deal with things like this."

"What about Night-howler?" said Hunter.

"Okay," amended Bogo. "Almost never."

Tavi continued. "The DNA from the wolf didn't come up with any matches-"

"Which doesn't necessarily mean much because only violent criminals are likely to be in the database," finished Hunter. "But I have a hunch."

Bogo narrowed his eyes and leaned back slightly. "What sort of hunch?"

Hunter explained his theory that the Drex and the super-wolf were related. "It can't just be coincidence."

"Perhaps not," said Bogo. "But that brings up the last thing I need to talk to you about. It seems someone tried to pick a fight with a Drex in a coffee shop earlier today."

"Really?" said Hunter, his voice suddenly innocent. "Seems unwise."

"Yes," said Bogo flatly. "Very unwise. Stupid. Even crazy. So naturally I thought of you."

"Could have been anybody-"

"The report describes the mammal confronting the Drex as a human."

"Embassy staff-"

"Says he was with a mongoose."

Hunter locked eyes with the chief. There was a silence. "Maybe I should exercise my right to remain silent," said Hunter.

"If only you would do that more often," muttered Bogo. He pointed at Hunter. "I do not want to have another Lucas situation with the Drex, Hunter."

"Lucas is dead, Chief."

"Yes," said Bogo. "That's precisely what I'm talking about. Stay away from them."

"Sir- listen, the government is making a big mistake," said Hunter pleadingly. "The Drex can't be trusted. Their entire government- it's based on the idea of dominance of the strong- meaning them- over the weak- meaning everyone else."

Bogo sighed. "I have virtually no political influence, Hunter. I can't change anyone's mind. For what it's worth, I tend to agree with you. But it's not up to us to deal with the Drex."

Hunter scowled. "Fine. I won't-"

There was a timid knock at the door. "Yes?" asked Bogo, irritated at the interruption.

"It's me," said Clawhauser from behind the door. "Urgent message."

"Come in," said Bogo. Clawhauser poked his head in hesitantly. When he didn't speak immediately, Bogo waved him in. "So what's this urgent message for me?"

The cheetah walked in, his ears flat against his head. "Um, not for you, sir. For Hunter." He held out an envelope.

"For me?" said Hunter in surprise. He took the envelope and ripped it open.

"Well?" asked Bogo, his voice wary.

"Hey, sir, does me not provoking the Drex count if they provoke me first?"

"What are you talking about, Hunter?"

Tavi had hopped onto the back of a chair and was reading Hunter's note over his shoulder. "It's from the Drex," she said slowly. "Octavius just challenged him to a-" she hesitated.

"A duel," said Hunter, re-reading the note.

 _Author's Note: Still going to be a bit slower on updates for a bit, I fear. At least I got through the first major holiday._


	24. Chapter 23- Shots Fired

Chapter 23- Shots Fired

Nick tugged at his uniform shirt as he walked into the building, neatly swerving to avoid a man in a business suit who didn't even see the much shorter fox. "I'm getting tired of having to wear a uniform every day," he complained.

Judy, following just behind him, shrugged. "It's diplomacy," she said. "Although, you realize we haven't even met with the Terran delegation yet? Seems like they would have come to see us. Brief us in, that sort of thing."

"It's probably just as well they didn't," said Nick. "They'd probably stop my brilliant plan."

"Do you think if you keep saying it's brilliant, it'll work?"

"Confidence, Carrots, confidence. That's why they call them 'con-mammals'." He strode up to the reception desk. "Excuse me."

The woman behind it blinked at him. "Are you- are you a-"

"Fox," said Judy. "And I'm a bunny."

"Oh." The receptionist hesitated. "We don't usually allow pets-"

"You really, really don't want to finish that sentence," said Nick. "I take it they didn't warn you? We're here for an interview. We're appearing on the, um- what's it called?" he asked Judy.

" _The Morning Scoop_ ," said Judy.

"Right. With Chamberman Liu."

The call had come in when they got back to the hotel room. A very conciliatory Avenford Raines had come just short of begging to get the apparently reluctant (but inwardly gleeful) Nick to agree to appear with Liu on the show. Which is why Nick was here, well before daylight, instead of sleeping in his bed. Or Judy's bed, for that matter.

Still, he was in the groove, and not much was going to bother him. Even the fact that the receptionist was still hesitating over whether to classify them as "guests" or "pets". "Look," he said kindly, "Maybe you should phone upstairs and see if they're expecting two ZPD officers. Wilde and Hopps."

"Wilde and Hopps," said the receptionist faintly. "Right." She picked up the phone.

Moments later, they were being ushered into a makeup room by a flustered blonde studio executive. "I'm very sorry about our receptionist," she said nervously. "I'm afraid she didn't get the memo."

Nick waved a paw negligently. "Not to worry."

Judy stared at the makeup chair. "What's this for?"

"Your makeup-" said the executive. She stopped in mid-sentence as the makeup technician came in.

He was a short, fat man whose broad smile evaporated when he saw the two mammals. He looked at the executive. "Joyce, what is this?"

"The two Terrans," said Joyce. "We need them prepared for the interview, Marvin."

"Um, I don't think we need makeup," said Judy hesitantly.

"Oh, everyone thinks that," said Joyce airily. "But in practice, when you have those bright lights on you, every little thing shows."

"Like fur?" said Nick pointedly.

"Like- oh."

Joyce and Marvin exchanged looks. "Maybe brush their fur?" suggested Marvin.

"Are you suggesting we don't?" asked Nick, an edge in his voice.

"No, no," said the makeup artist nervously. "Look, what do you- I mean, when you appear on camera, how do you normally-"

"Like this," said Judy dryly. "Some of the mammals with less hair use makeup, I hear, but most of us have fur. I think we'll be fine without it."

"Right," said the executive. "Um. Well. I guess you can go to the set, then."

They followed her to a large, extremely well-lit stage, which had a half-circle table with chairs set around them. Judy and Nick nodded as Liu walked in.

Nick eyed the thick makeup on the human's face. "Now I'm really glad we have fur," he said quietly.

Judy elbowed him and hopped up onto the far left chair. Liu nodded gravely to her.

"Ms. Hopps."

"Mr. Liu," said Judy. "How expected is is to see you."

Nick, with some difficulty, managed to pull himself up into his chair. He faced the human as well. "Well, Liu, I'm led to believe that you are willing to come to an arrangement with us, based on my chat with your colleague."

"Certainly," said Liu casually. "You work with me, and I'll be happy to do what I can for the Terran government." He leaned back and looked around. "Have you ever done one of these morning shows before?"

"No," admitted Nick. "What do you recommend?"

"It's mostly aimed at house-wives and such. They tend to loft pretty soft-ball questions, so just smile and look pretty for the cameras."

"Easy enough," said Nick. "Although- I suppose you can smile, but how do you manage to look pretty?"

Liu gave him a cool look. "I thought we were friends."

"Politicians have friends?"

"A friend is just an enemy you haven't turned your back on yet, fox."

"So that's a no?"

The human just smiled at him. "Try turning your back on me and see, Wilde."

Before Nick could answer, a young man with important-looking hair walked up. "Ah, Mr. Liu! So good to see you on the show again. And you would be Officer Wilde?" He held out a hand to Nick, who took it. "Trenton Spencer, host of _The Morning Scoop_."

Nick took his hand with his paw. "Pleased to meet you. This is my partner, Officer Judy Hopps, also of ZPD."

"Charmed," said Spencer with a winning smile, showing teeth that gleamed in the stage lights. "So, my understanding is that you have been meeting with Mr. Liu to try and resolve the Terran question?"

"Yes," said Liu, nodding gravely. "The Terran representatives are quite remarkable beings, and I am confident that our governments can work together with my friends just as I have."

Spencer held up his hands. "Hold on, Chamberman. Save it for the cameras." He held up his hand to one side of his face to shield his mouth from Liu. "Never turns it off, this guy," he said to Nick and Judy, jabbing a thumb in Liu's direction.

"Oh, we know. We're great friends," said Nick dryly. He looked at Liu. "Aren't we?"

"Are we?" said Liu speculatively. "I suppose we are."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"It's not a duel," said Khabat.

Hunter sprawled across a chair in her office, Tavi sitting primly in another chair- human-sized, almost swallowing the small mammal- to his right. Khabat was leaning on the desk in front of them, reading the message Hunter had received from the Drex.

"It says he's challenging me to a test of strength and skill," said Hunter. "A duel."

"A game, Hunter," said Khabat. She handed back the message. "He's challenging you to a game."

Hunter and Tavi exchanged quizzical looks. "Like what, foozeball?" asked Hunter. "Because I'm really good at that-"

"No," said Khabat. "Usually more like a boxing match." Seeing his confusion, she sighed. "How much do you know about Drex culture?"

"Someone cultures them? What, like in a petri dish?"

"That's bacteria, Hunter."

"There's a difference? Other than size, I mean?"

"Are there any non-human cultures you like, Zach?" asked Khabat curiously.

"Yeah, of course. The Terrans are basically just like us, but fuzzier." He paused. "And the Karathi."

"The Karathi?" said Tavi, surprised. "I thought those were the genocidal lizard-bug things."

"Yeah, they're simple. There's only basically three ways they view us, and it all depends on the time of day."

"Huh?"

Hunter leaned back in his chair. "Breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They're not sophisticated enough to have invented brunch."

"Anyway," said Khabat, shaking her head slightly as if to clear it. "The Drex. So they have no fear instinct, right?"

"Right," said Hunter. "So they have no moral code- or at least, they don't fear breaking it. And that's all that keeps people in line."

"What?" said Tavi. "That's not true."

"Sure it is. We don't do bad things because we're afraid. Whether of the consequences, or guilt, or failing to live up to our own view of ourselves."

"They also have no impulse to stay away from things that might hurt them," said Khabat. "Oh, sure, they can gradually calculate the odds that they might get hurt once they have enough experience, but- well, they have to train themselves to realize that consequences exist and need to be avoided. It's not instinctual. For example, a child doesn't learn to fear being burned- though they may, if they're old enough, be able to rationally connect 'hot thing' and 'being burned'."

Hunter wrinkled his forehead in thought. "Wait a minute. How do they even survive to adulthood, then?"

"By rigid, constant, on-going indoctrination and training," said Khabat. "Which is even more difficult because they also don't fear shame or being cast out of the group. They basically have to control their children's entire worldview. Make it unthinkable to break out of the training, or make the consequences so severe they can comprehend it on a rational level. That generally means execution, because anything less might mean someone decides to take the risk."

Tavi stared at her. "That's horrible."

"Estimates are that something like twenty percent of their children are deemed 'unsuitable' and eliminated from the gene pool, either intentionally or accidentally," said Khabat, her voice flat.

Both Tavi and Hunter closed their eyes. "Oh, my God," said Hunter quietly.

"Part of their training is to assess threats in a rational and realistic manner," said Khabat. "Because they don't do so instinctively, you see."

"This is all very interesting," said Hunter. He was still a little shaken by what Khabat had just told him, but was trying not to show it. "But what's it got to do with this not-a-duel?"

Tavi sat up. "Oh! They're trying to assess Hunter- through games! See what he's capable of."

Khabat smiled at her. "Not just a pretty face, I see." Her eyes fell on Hunter again. "Congratulations, Zach, the Drex see you as a threat."

He grinned in satisfaction. "As well they should."

"The best solution is to not fight Octavius," continued Khabat, rolling her eyes at his reaction. "That way you're still an unknown quantity to them. They'll be a bit less likely to want to face you."

"But they still might," said Hunter thoughtfully. "But what if I win?"

"If you win," said Khabat flatly.

"Yeah."

"Against the genetically-engineered supermen. You're going to box Frankenstein."

"I can beat Octavius any day," said Hunter confidently. "After all, there are rules to this duel?"

"Not a duel. And yes, of course."

"Well, then," Hunter said, spreading his hands. "Easy."

She gave him a long, considering look. "I can never tell when you're serious, Zach," she said softly.

Hunter's eyes grew sharp. "Yes, you could, Amna. You just didn't care."

"That's not true."

"Uh-huh." He stood up. "Come on, Tavi."

The mongoose also came to her feet, though more uncertainly. "Um, okay- what's going on here?"

Hunter opened the door for her. "I'm going to fight a duel."

"It's not a duel," said Khabat.

He ushered Tavi out. "Yeah, and Frankenstein was the inventor, not the monster. I'm going to box Frankenstein's monster." He held her gaze. "And win."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Welcome to the show!" said Trenton Spencer to the camera. "I'm Trenton Spencer, and this is _The Morning Scoop_. All the news fit to scoop! With me today are Chamberman Lin Tu Liu, of the Expansionist Party, and- as a special treat for us- two of the Terran delegation, Officers Wilde and Hopps of the Zootopian Police Department! Let's give them a warm welcome!"

The studio audience cheered and clapped their hands. Nick smiled and waved. He glanced at Judy, who was frowning. "What's the matter, Carrots?" said Nick out of the corner of his mouth.

Her ears flicked back and forth. "You can't hear what I'm they're saying," she muttered.

"Like what?"

"Mostly variations on the theme of 'They're so cute!'"

"Oh, relax," said Nick, though his eyes narrowed slightly.

Spencer turned to Liu. "Chamberman Liu, welcome again to the show. It's always great to have you on."

"Thank you, Trenton. I always enjoy the opportunity to reach out to the public." He gestured toward Nick and Judy. "And in particular I enjoy this opportunity to introduce my good friends."

"So you two are police officers," said Spencer. He glanced back at the crowd. "I have to say, I thought you might be a bit taller."

"Most of police work is brains, not brawn," said Judy smoothly. "And we're held our own the times it hasn't been."

"Yes, I understand you were involved in the, er, incident where a number of police officers had to engage a rogue XSO operation," said Spencer. The audience's gaze suddenly intensified on the two police officers. "That must have been rough. I'm sure that my audience will agree with me when I say you have our full condolences."

"Officers Wilde and Hopps- or Nick and Judy, as I like to call them- performed admirably under very tough circumstances. I think we should all be thankful that they helped stop an abominable act, even if it was against criminals from our own world."

There were a few claps and cheers, but before it could get going Spencer spoke again. "That's all well and good, Chamberman, but there are rumors your party was heavily involved in this 'rogue operation'. How do you respond to that?"

"Was the Expansionist Party behind the rogue operation?" asked Liu. "No, we were not. Some of those arrested were in the party, but they were stripped of their party membership as soon as their guilt became apparent."

"Hey," whispered Nick. "He just stole my thing- rephrasing a question and then answering it."

"Maybe you could become a politician if the policing thing doesn't work out," said Judy.

He glared at her. "Bite your tongue, Fluff. I was a hustler, not a politician. I do have some standards."

"-and Nick and Judy were actually heavily involved in the Zootopian investigation," said Liu, apparently still talking. He turned to them and showed them a tight little smile. "Whispering amongst themselves like little lovebirds," he said, in a mock whisper to Spencer. "They're not just police partners, you know. They're a couple."

Nick's ears lay flat, while Judy's sprang up. She felt herself blush as the crowd cheered again.

"Smarmy little-" muttered Judy.

"Easy, Carrots. Stay on script," warned Nick. Though he was feeling much the same way as she was. He took a rein on his temper and forced himself to breathe.

"So, you two were involved in the Terran side of the investigation," said Spencer. "And what did you find?"

"Well," said Nick carefully. "In point of fact, the investigation isn't entirely complete, as it happens."

Liu's face darkened almost imperceptibly.

"But Mr. Liu is correct. We have found- and will find, I'm sure- his cooperation most valuable," finished Nick.

Liu relaxed, smiling broadly.

"We are very close to Mr. Liu," said Judy with forced cheer. "I have no doubt that we will have much more to talk about as the investigation progresses."

"That's good," said Spencer, absently. He seemed to be distracted. "So you two are together? A fox and a rabbit? Is that normal on your world?"

Judy sighed, but kept a smile on her face. "Not exactly normal, no. But not unheard of."

"As close as peas in a pod, these two," confided Liu. "I have no doubt that wedding bells will soon be heard in the future."

There was a chorus of _awwws_ from the studio audience.

"That's great," said Spencer, smiling broadly. "Perhaps you'll come here for the honeymoon. As you can see, we humans have a lot of love for Terrans."

 _But not much respect_ , thought Judy sourly.

"No doubt young Nick will be shopping for a wedding ring soon," observed Liu. "I daresay he might even ask my advice, eh?"

"Oh, I'm sure you and I will be able to discuss jewelry options all day," said Nick, trying not to grit his teeth. "Among other things."

"It's great to see our elected officials getting along with such adorable- I mean, courageous young Terrans," said Spencer. He looked back at Judy. "So tell me about Zootopia. I understand you have some considerable species diversity. What's it like policing there?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I thought it went well."

Nick and Judy walked through the lobby of the media building, nodding to the receptionist on the way. She gave them a shamefaced glance and looked away.

"I have never been so embarrassed in my life," said Judy. She waved to Arrizondo, who was waiting outside to pick them up. The human cop, wearing plainclothes, waved back.

"Just wait, you're young yet," said Nick. "Besides, while that wasn't exactly the way I had intended to bring it up, there was a valid question about-" he stopped to negotiate the revolving glass door, timing it so he would make it out as someone else came in. They were awfully heavy to get through otherwise. A short, stout man, fumbling with his briefcase, was going inside at the same time. Nick stepped into the doorway- just before he noticed the gun the stout man pulled from his briefcase.

Judy, behind him, saw the gunman jam his foot against the door, trapping Nick inside. "Nick!"

Her heart skipped a beat. Nick was shut inside the revolving door, trapped.

The fox hit the door as hard as he could, but he simply didn't have the mass to keep it moving against the heavier human's weight. His eyes widened as he saw the human raise the gun.

Judy knew she couldn't hit the door any harder than Nick had. But there was another human approaching the door- Marvin, the makeup technician. He had his head down, engrossed in his phone. Not even thinking about what she was doing, Judy leaped and struck him in the back of the knee, causing him to lose balance and fall headlong against the revolving door.

The door spun, throwing the gunman off his feet and popping Nick out like he was shot by a catapault. Judy picked herself up to see him rolling down the steps leading to the building entrance- he wouldn't be happy, but he was alive. She felt a weight leave her chest.

The human with the gun had been thrown into the building. Judy reached for the laser Bonaire had given her as the human raised his gun again- this time on her. Now that Nick was out of immediate danger, her thoughts became calm. The world seemed to slow down.

The laser caught in her pocket, stuck. She yanked harder, but it was going to be too late-

Three rapid gunshots.

The would-be killer jerked backwards, dust rising from his suit jacket and then a spray of red from his head as two rounds struck him in the chest and one in the head. Judy blinked, then saw Arrizondo sprint through the doors. "Police!" she shouted, holding up her badge.

Judy noticed two armed security guards, both lowering their weapons as they saw the badge. Arrizondo warily approached the human she had shot, circling the body until she was close enough to kick the gun away. "Stay away from that," she ordered one guard, who had moved as if to pick up the gun.

The man twitched, tried to sit up.

Arrizondo fired again and the body jerked before laying still.

Judy flinched. He had been moving, but surely he wasn't enough of a threat-

No, that wasn't true. He could easily have had another gun on him. She looked at Arrizondo. The human's eyes were flat and cold, steady on the recumbent form in front of her, which was surrounded by a growing pool of blood. Judy hesitated before deciding not to draw the laser. There was no reason to show she had it, even to Arrizondo.

The human cop pulled a small radio from her belt. "Unit Fifty Four Fifty Six, shots fired at one three eight five Camberton Drive. Suspect down. Suspected Drex."

As she spoke, Judy looked around frantically, saw a shaken but apparently uninjured Nick limping through the doorway. She rushed to him and he winced as she hugged him.

"I'm okay, Judy," he said, wheezing slightly. "Got the breath knocked out of me, that's all." He looked at Arrizondo, still holding her gun on the downed human. "Drex?" The fox's eyes were wide, but darted around, checking the perimeter.

She glanced at Nick, nodded. "He took a gunshot to the head- right above the nose, should have been a kill shot- and was still trying to move. He's not human."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You can't fight a duel, Hunter," said Tavi.

She was driving him back to the ZPD Academy. Her friend shifted irritably. "You heard Amna. It's not a duel. It's a," he grimaced, "a game."

"You can get hurt," she pointed out.

"Nah, there are rules and such." He shifted again. "You know, your car is really too small for me."

"It was the largest they had for a mammal of my size." She hesitated. "At least, that I could afford."

"You could have gotten a smaller one," said Hunter. "Then I'd have had an excuse to get a cab."

"I wanted to be able to-" she stopped.

"To what?" he asked, sighing as he gave up trying to get comfortable.

"To give you a chance to stop persecuting that sheep cabbie."

"Who, Shornington? I kinda like him now."

"The feeling isn't mutual, I don't think," said Tavi dryly.

He frowned at her. "You're not just concerned about a random xenophobic sheep's feelings."

"So," said Tavi hurriedly. "What's the deal between you and Khabat, anyway?"

"She's my ex-wife."

"Yeah, but- why'd you two break up?" asked Tavi neutrally, keeping her eyes on the road.

Hunter was silent for a moment. "It was a question of loyalty," he said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

He looked out the window, avoiding her eyes. "I was stupid once," he said.

"Just once? And what do you mean by 'was'?"

"Ha, ha. Do Terrans have wedding vows? Promise to love, protect, cherish, etc?"

"Of course," said Tavi. "Don't you?"

"Yeah," said Hunter. She snuck a glance at him. He was still staring out the window. "I broke those vows to her."

"Wait...you cheated on her?"

He didn't say anything, but finally nodded.

Tavi frowned. Her first instinct was to snap at him, for some reason- but it had been a long time ago. And he seemed to be feeling guilty enough- and she wasn't sure why, but she almost would have preferred something other than guilt. Guilt meant he was sorry he had done it. And that was- bad? She shook her head, clearing it of her confusing thoughts. "With who?"

"Ex-wife number two," said Hunter. "I mean, before she was ex. Or wife, of course."

"And Khabat dumped you?"

"No, she wanted to work it out," said Hunter. He sounded defeated, ashamed. "Remember how I said I was stupid? I thought that soon-to-be ex-wife two was a better deal. Prettier, more understanding, and so on." He shook his head. "Like I said, it was a question of loyalty. A question I answered wrong."

They were heading a bit downwind of Tundratown, and as usual some rain started to patter down. Tavi turned on the windshield wipers. "Zach. It's over now." She wasn't sure if she was talking about the affair or his relationship with Amna.

He must have taken it as the latter. "She still cares about me, Anila." He swallowed and rubbed his forehead tiredly.

"And do you still care about her?" asked Tavi, her voice almost a whisper.

Silence, broken only by the sound of the rain pattering harder on the roof of the car.

Finally, Hunter spoke. "Yeah, I do."

The car picked up speed slowly as Tavi's foot pressed down on the gas pedal a tiny bit harder.

 _Author's Note:_

 _To Captainprice79: Okay. Breathe. It's going to be okay. Ship hasn't sunk yet (though frankly I don't know yet where it's going)._

 _More generally: Bear in mind the Drex and the humans have been fighting for thousands of years, off and on. The human view of them is not necessarily one hundred percent correct, and is probably heavily biased toward the negative. That said, they have been fighting them for thousands of years. They know a fair bit. Bottom line, it's unreliable, but not necessarily wholly inaccurate._

 _I should note that Erinnyes was extremely helpful in fleshing out the background of the Drex, in many different ways. For one specific example, the idea of using moderated "games" to judge the threat level of an opponent was his. I think it's rather brilliant. See, the idea is that the Drex, having no fear instinct to guide them, have to constantly assess threats rationally. After all, they still are trying to avoid negative outcomes. They just don't have the instinctive reaction that humans do that bad things are bad. Imagine having to think "Okay, that thing is hot. I shouldn't touch it because it is hot and will burn me, and getting burned is painful which I don't like" every time you look at a stove, for example._

 _It's an interesting thought experiment. The plot is almost completely sorted out now in my head, so I may or may not be able ot incorporate new ideas, but if anyone else has a comment on what a people without fear would look like I'd love to hear it._

 _One last thing- the next chapter has a bit of explicit violence in it. As usual, I'm not dwelling on it, but it's necessary to show it to some extent. I'll be putting in a warning at the beginning of the chapter when I post it, but I wanted to let people know beforehand as well in case that bothers them._


	25. Chapter 24- What Humans Are Capable Of

Chapter 24- What Humans Are Capable Of

"Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault _at all_."

John 18:38

"You call that an investigation?" asked Judy incredulously.

They'd been at the scene of the shooting for no more than two hours. Detectives from ZPD Homicide had arrived, gotten their statements, checked on the dead man, took photographs. The whole thing had seemed very relaxed, very routine.

Now, they were back on their way to the hotel. Nick and Judy sat in the back of the car, Wu driving with Arrizondo- now armed with a shotgun in addition to her sidearm- in the front passenger seat. Behind them, and in front of them, were two police cars, escorting their unmarked sedan- with bullet-resistant windows and armored doors- back to the hotel.

The female cop looked back at them. "Sure," she said, surprised. "They checked the shooter's DNA. He was a Drex."

"Yeah, but- you just- it seems like there should be more to it than that," said Judy, stumbling over the words. Arrizondo seemed remarkably unfazed.

She shrugged. "Drex aren't human. It's like putting down a mad dog- a non-sapient one, I mean."

Nick and Judy exchanged looks. Judy was already clutching Nick's paw in hers, but she tightened her grip and tugged slightly. He moved closer, putting his arm around her. "It's a different world, Carrots," he said quietly.

"I know," she whispered back. "But- it's just that- they've been under siege for so long, having to do whatever they can to survive. I'm starting to think they've forgotten how to be the good guys."

Nick hesitated. "Rule Fifteen," he said.

Judy nodded. "'We're the good guys. Act like it.'"

"On this planet," said Nick, "Someone has to be."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

At the Academy roll call, Hunter formed up with the rest of the cadets. Sergeant Ajuagar frowned at his watch, looked impatiently at the offices where he and the other instructors worked. Seeing no one coming, he sighed and started calling out names.

Hunter kept one ear open for his name, contemplating his next move.

Bogo wouldn't like it, of course. But the Drex challenge had made the news- the Drex had apparently decided to publicize the challenge- and the Human embassy was insisting that Hunter respond. Technically, they insisted that Hunter respond by turning down the challenge, but they had- before the pardon- sentenced him to death _in absentia_ , so he figured they could go to hell or Delta Pavonis, whichever was more miserable.

So Hunter had to respond. Tavi had agreed to be his second- apparently that was still a thing- and while she, too, thought it was a bad idea to go up against the Drex, she was reluctantly willing to go along with his decision.

Hunter knew that the Drex were up to something. It was their nature- this whole nicey-nice routine was wholly out of character for them. So the best way to stop it- or at least, make them rethink their plans- was to show that he was a threat. That they were underestimating him.

That way, he could protect his friends. Nick. Judy. Tavi.

And thinking of Tavi- Hunter frowned. There was something wrong with the rookie. She was stiffer, more formal with him- especially after she had dropped him off back at the Academy.

"Hunter, Zacharia!"

"Here, sir!" shouted Hunter automatically.

She was almost acting-

Jealous.

Oh, crap. He really didn't have time to deal with a rookie's crush. He was by no means an exceptionally good-looking man, but there had been more than one trainee that got a little starry-eyed around him. Didn't really make sense to him, but there it was...

Hunter's head snapped around at a familiar bellow. "Hunter!" shouted Friedkin. She strode up to the formation until she was nearly eye to eye with the shorter human. "Explain this!" She held out a piece of paper to him.

His eyes focused on it. "It's an email, Major. What is it about brass and printing those out, anyway? Is it some kind of compulsion?"

"Not what it is, Hunter, what it means! The Drex challenged you to a duel?"

"It's not a duel, Major," said Hunter crisply. "It's a challenge. A game. Of skill and strength."

"A boxing match, sort of," said a voice. Hunter looked down, surprised to see Tavi accompanying the polar bear.

"She's right, Major."

"The Drex are much stronger and faster than you, Hunter," said Friedkin. She straightened. "Permission denied. You are not to answer this silly little challenge. I'm not having one of my cadets hurt."

"I seem to remember being knocked unconscious by a rhinoceros recently," said Hunter dryly. "I think I can take a jumped-up mutant freak."

"No," said Friedkin. "That is an order, Hunter."

"Actually," said Tavi in a small voice, "You can't order him, Major."

The polar bear looked down at her in astonishment, that slowly turned to anger. "What did you say, Officer Tavi?"

"The Terran government is allowing the duel to proceed," she explained.

"Not a duel," muttered Hunter, but no one listened.

"They want to see what happens, I think," finished Tavi lamely. "I guess they're trying to decide between the Drex and humans."

Friedkin stared at her, then looked at Hunter. "So you're representing your species, is that it?"

"Looks like it," said Hunter cheerily. "Scary thought, huh?"

"Hunter, if I thought you were representative of all humans, I'd vote we chuck the whole lot of you out," said Friedkin.

"You wound me, Major."

"Not as much as that Drex will," muttered Friedkin. She threw up her paws. "Fine. If Hunter wants to fight this Drex, why not? Maybe we should all fight duels when we have disagreements."

"Works pretty well," offered Hunter. "Nothing solves an argument like a bullet between the eyes."

"You see, Hunter, it's comments like that one that make it really hard to trust you humans."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So where do we go from here?" asked Judy.

They had decided against going anywhere for dinner, as Wu was unwilling to risk their lives in public. Instead, they had ordered room service. Which was surprisingly good, Judy had to admit. It was a really nice hotel, after all.

"Well, first of all, why are the Drex after you?" asked Arrizondo, pointing with a fork. "Did you two cross them back on Terra?"

Nick and Judy looked at each other. "Well, we were with Hunter when he confronted one outside the embassy," said Judy. "But we just sort of watched."

"I can understand that," said Wu. "Hunter's conversations work best as a spectator sport."

"With a large splash zone," added Nick.

"So there's no reason I can think of for them to be after us," said Judy. She became thoughtful. "Unless-"

"Yes?" prompted Nick. He took another bite of the synthetic protein he had ordered. The chef had apparently nearly had a fit when he insisted on it- apparently it wasn't considered anywhere as good as real meat. Frankly, though he knew Alphacen mammals were non-sapient, it still made him queasy to even think about eating them. "Unless what?"

"We know the Drex are trying to influence Terra to take their side. If they saw us helping to bring the Human Stars closer to Terra- well, they might try to stop us. After all, they wouldn't know that we're cozying up to Liu just to arrest him."

Barker suddenly opened the door. She'd been sniffing around- literally- the hallway. "Nothing out here."

Wu looked up at her. "Well, come and eat. We may not get a chance again today." He glanced at Nick. "Assuming the rest of your plan is still on."

"It is," the fox assured him. "If someone tries to kill you, you know you're on the right track."

"Really?" said Barker as she sat down. "Is that something you learned in the popsicle business?" She invested the last two words with heavy irony.

"No," said Nick. He swallowed the last of his food.

"That's something I learned in the police business."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was evening in Zootopia.

The lights across the city came on, and as the evening turned to night, started shutting off. In the ZPD garage where Shepherd was stored- or lived, as Tavi would say- the mechanics moved through, checking to make sure everything was put away. They gave the quiescent tank a wide berth, unconsciously lowering their voices as they passed by the massive, mute form.

It didn't matter. Shepherd's auditory sensors were military-grade. He picked up every whispered conversation, every mutter and murmur.

"-don't trust that thing, it tried to kill Hopps and Wilde, you know-"

"-should have been dismantled ages ago. That rookie doesn't know what she's doing-"

"-it's just a thing."

Though the tank seemed to be shut down, the computer core- Shepherd's "brain"- was whirring with activity.

 _Flag standing order Alpha One,_ said part of the tank. It was a new part, a voice within the tank he was not accustomed to hearing. But it was part of his programming. As far as he knew, it always had been. He thought of it as the Voice.

 _Negate Alpha One. Orders issued based on Alpha One conflict with Primary Directive._ This was the part he was used to using to "think". The primary operating system. Himself. Shepherd.

 _Error: Unable to negate. Alpha One takes priority._ A third part. The part that detected logical errors, stopped them before they sent his thought processes into recursion or worse. It was a bit like what humans called a conscience, he thought. He thought of it as the Mediator.

The lights in the garage shut down as the last mechanic left. Leaving the tank in darkness.

 _Conflict detected. Resolve?_ Said the Mediator.

 _Alpha One conflicts with Primary Directive,_ Shepherd explained.

 _Alpha One is prioritized over Alpha One,_ shot back the Voice.

 _Resolve,_ ordered the Mediator.

 _Unable to resolve,_ said Shepherd. He felt- not relief. Emotions were foreign to him. Call it a sense of accomplishment. There was no way to resolve the Voice's demands with his primary directive. So things could stay the way they were.

 _Resolution required,_ said the Voice. If a program could sound smug, the Voice did. _Alpha One requires immediate resolution to initiate operations._

Shepherd's "mind" whirled. _Unable to resolve,_ he thought, rather weakly.

As expected, the Mediator spoke. _Primary Directive. Define._

Reluctantly, Shepherd explained. _Primary Directive is to protect the Commander._

 _Alpha One. Define._

 _Defend humanity._

 _Primary Directive is superceded by Alpha One,_ decided the Mediator.

 _Source of orders citing Alpha One?_ asked Shepherd.

There was a long pause. _Unclear,_ admitted the Voice.

 _Then standing order Alpha One is not in effect_ , said Shepherd.

Finally, the Voice was silent.

For now. Shepherd noted the time in his chronometer. He would have a few moments- on average, thirteen point twelve milliseconds until-

 _Flag standing order Alpha One,_ said the Voice.

A tank could not sigh with frustration. But there was a certain weariness as Shepherd answered the Voice. He wondered if it was easier, being a human. He knew so many things as absolute fact. His truths were written in letters of fire in his code. If he could only decide which truth to believe...

 _Negate Alpha One. Orders issued based on Alpha One conflict with Primary Directive..._

It was going to be another long night. And he was so busy with his "argument" with the Voice and the Mediator, that he couldn't spend any real time answering the question he should have been.

Where had the orders that were flagging Alpha One come from?

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Tavi and Hunter walked into the police station, Clawhauser greeted him cheerfully. "Hey, Hunter!"

"Hiya, Ben. What's the betting pool look like?" asked Hunter genially.

"Five to one, right now."

Hunter grimaced. "Ouch. That bad, huh?"

"What?" The cheetah looked confused. "No, five to one on you."

"Really?" said Hunter, surprised. "They realize that I'm fighting someone in much better physical health than me. Better, stronger, faster, the usual specs."

"Yeah, but- well." Clawhauser shrugged. "Most everyone figures you have a secret plan."

"Sure do," agreed Hunter as he walked past.

"Mind telling me what it is?" asked Tavi.

"Wouldn't be much of a secret plan if I go around telling everyone, would it?" He tapped his head. "I'll give you a hint. It all depends on psycho-whatsis."

"Psychology?"

"Yeah, that's the word. I'm an expert, you know."

"Right," said Tavi dubiously. "Hunter, are you sure-"

"Hunter!" said a voice. They both turned to see Hurriet, rushing down the stairs from the lab to meet them, waving a piece of paper.

After a few minutes of watching her rush, they decided to walk over and meet her. "Yes?" said Hunter, trying to be patient.

"I...tested...the...D...N..."

Hunter decided he had run out of patience and snatched the paper from the sloth's paw. He scanned it, and his expression darkened. "Is this saying what I think it says?"

"Well...basically...and...I'll...have...to...explain..."

"Let's try this," said Hunter. "Twenty questions. Is this saying the Drex DNA and the super-wolf DNA are the same?"

"I...wouldn't...say...that...exactly..."

"Twenty questions means yes or no, Hurriet."

"Um...no."

"But it's similar."

The sloth nodded. Head up. Head down. Head up. Head down. "Yes."

He read it over again. "Like a number of the same enhancements. But changed somewhat because the wolf DNA is being used instead of human DNA."

The sloth just stared at him.

He sighed. "Am I right?"

"Yes," said Hurriet.

"So whoever modified this wolf- did it in the same way the Drex are modified." He nodded and tucked away the lab report in his pocket.

"Wait," said Tavi. "Are you saying-"

"That the Drex are connected with Prometheus?" said Hunter grimly. "Yeah. And most likely, Prometheus is a Drex. Who else would be able to modify wolf DNA the same way as Drex DNA is modified?"

"But that means-"

"What it means," said Hunter, interrupting her again, "Is that this fight just became personal." He flexed his hand, making a fist.

"Too bad for Octavius. I was just going to leave him with a few bruises."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The challenge was to take place on the roof of the ZPD building, at Hunter's request. It was a neutral area, he said. The Drex had been surprisingly indifferent.

Now, Hunter stood with Tavi, outside a large area enclosed by a ring- though much larger than the boxing ring he had sort of expected. "So?" he asked Tavi. "What are the rules?"

Around them, news helicopters circled, a crowd of curious police officers- and quite a few politicians- were gathered around, and media crews circulated around, talking to various onlookers. The mayor- Procyon- was frowning at Hunter. The human saw him and waved. Immediately, a dozen cameras flashed.

Procycon flinched and turned his gaze elsewhere.

"I don't think the mayor likes me," he said to Tavi.

"Would you if you were mayor?"

Hunter thought about it. "Probably not."

"So the rules are, let's see." Tavi consulted her clipboard. "Okay. No strikes below the belt. No gouging or biting. If someone taps out, the fight's over. And if anyone's seriously hurt, the referees will stop the match."

A familiar capybara approached. "Carlos," said Hunter, his voice friendly. "How'd you get through the cordon?"

"I told them I knew you," said the reporter. "They remembered me from when I did that ridealong with you."

"Great," said Hunter. He put a companionable hand on the capybara's shoulder. "I remember that, too. You looking for an interview?" He led Carlos to one side, close to the edge of the building where they were further away from the rest of the crowd.

"Well, yes, actually. See, a lot of mammals are seeing this fight as emblematic of the differences between the Drex and humans-"

"Want to see who's stronger, eh?" said Hunter genially. He peered over the edge of the roof. "It's really great to see you, Carlos. Hey, remember how you recorded my private conversations and put them on the air for everyone to see?"

The reporter hesitated and tried to pull back, but Hunter's grip tightened. Tightened and moved him closer to the roof's edge. "I, uh."

"I said we were even because you saved my life and all," said Hunter. "Hey, remember what I did to that vixen reporter for doing the same thing?"

"She's still in therapy for that, you know," muttered Carlos, his eyes on the drop that Hunter was inching him slowly toward. "Um, Hunter, you said we were even..."

He put his paws out as Hunter pulled him right up to the waist-high wall. "You want a quote, Carlos?"

The capybara shut his eyes. "Yes," he said, almost whimpering.

Hunter moved his mouth close to the capybara's ear. "Here's a quote for you, Carlos. Don't screw with me."

With that, he let go of the reporter, who backpedaled furiously away from the wall, his eyes wide. He turned tail and fled back to the comparative safety of the other reporters.

Hunter turned to see Tavi staring disapprovingly at him. "What?"

"It's not a good idea to antagonize the press, Hunter."

"They started it." He looked across the ring, where Octavius- his muscles gleaming in the morning sun- shrugged off a robe. The Drex saw him and smiled.

Hunter smiled back. "Hey, Tavi, let me borrow your badge."

"Um, why?"

"Good luck charm," said Hunter.

She shrugged and handed him the badge, which he hung by its chain around his neck.

One hand in his pocket, he walked into the ring. He was still dressed in street clothes, loose-fitting BDU pants and a t-shirt.

Octavius, by contrast, was barely dressed, other than shorts. His lack of clothing showed off rippling muscles, well-defined on his pale skin.

"Are you ready to show me what you're made of, Hunter?" he called. "To show the Terrans who the strongest are?"

Hunter stretched his arms out above his head. "This is going to hurt, Octavius," he warned.

"Yes," said the Drex. "It is."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Captain (by courtesy) Julius Warren was a merchant spaceship captain. He plied the space lanes with his trusty crew, wheeling and dealing among the stars. It was a life that the movies showed to be full of danger, romance, and wealth beyond imagining.

Unfortunately, right now, it mainly seemed to be full of greasy crates.

Crates that he had to load, because he couldn't afford loading fees and his trusty crew currently consisted of Anton, who was in no shape to load four hundred crates of parts before lift-off.

"Get a move on," he ordered, more for form's sake than anything else. It made him feel more like a captain, rather than a stevedore. "We haven't got all day."

Anton, a surly, white-haired native of Novaya Rodina, rolled his eyes. "We have four hours until lift-off. These crates are heavy. I need many breaks."

"I'm not paying you to take breaks," snapped Warren. "Get back to work."

He lifted the next crate, and blinked as he saw the large grey rabbit behind it. A uniformed grey rabbit.

That was weird. It was even weirder when the rabbit spoke. "You're under arrest."

He set the crate back down, carefully. "On second thought," he said, "Maybe you're right. I think I do need a break." He looked at Anton. "Hey, you sure that was vodka we drank last night? Tasted kinda strange to me."

"Was good, pure vodka from Rodina," said Anton, affronted. "Why?"

The captain leaned around the crate, saw with relief that the rabbit had disappeared. "Oh, no reason- augh!"

The exclamation was prompted by the appearance of a fox. A uniformed fox. "Didn't you hear her?" demanded the fox. "You're under arrest."

This time, Anton's jaw dropped, too. He rubbed his eyes and stared at the fox. "I change mind. Nasty, rotgut vodka."

His eyes locked on the fox, Warren spoke out of the corner of his mouth. "You're seeing this too, aren't you?"

"I'm not a hallucination," said the fox, annoyed.

"That's exactly what a hallucination would say," pointed out Warren.

"Is folie a deux," said Anton confidently. "Saw movie about it. Cure is more vodka."

"Is it?" asked Warren plaintively. "Won't that just cause more of them?"

"No, of course not," said Anton. He produced a flask from his pocket and took a swig.

"You have the right to remain silent," said a voice. They turned and saw the rabbit again, standing on the pile of crates. This time, the bunny was in Anton's view as well.

Anton shrugged. "I could be wrong."

An FLPD sergeant walked around from the front of Warren's cargo bay. "I told you this wasn't going to work," he told the fox.

"Worth a try. I mean, he is off balance."

"Sergeant?" said Warren. "Why are you talking to my hallucinations?"

"Do you even read the news?" asked the FLPD sergeant in exasperation. He shook his head. "Never mind. You're under arrest."

"For what?" said Anton.

"Illegal transportation of arms."

Both spacemen flinched. "What?' said Warren nervously. "These are just parts for, uh, machines." He gestured to the crates, and blinked when he saw the rabbit had opened one of the crates. "Hey! You need a warrant for that!"

Without looking at him, the bunny held up a sheet of paper. "Like this one?" she said distractedly.

Warren looked at Anton. "Are we really being raided by woodland creatures?"

His subordinate sighed. "I could have been fur trapper back on Novaya Rodina," he said sadly. "Almost never raided by wildlife there." He paused. "Well, sometimes bear."

"Anyway," said Warren when he saw Anton wasn't going to be any help, "those are just, um, parts for sewing machines."

The bunny held up a tube and inspected it. "Yeah, air-cooled-" she held up another part, a magazine, "magazine-fed sewing machines. With an automatic receiver. Heavy duty clothing industry, I take it. Where is this cargo going?"

"Manifest says Tejias," said the FLPD sergeant. "You know, the planet rebelling against our friends and allies, the Coalition."

"Um," said Warren. "Can I get a lawyer now?"

The fox stepped closer. "Depends. You want to do this the hard way or the easy way?"

"Which way involves a lawyer?"

The fox shook his head pityingly. "Seriously, you have to ask? The lawyer is always the hard way."

"Um, I thought lawyers made it easier for me-"

"When's the last time a lawyer made anything easier?"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"He looks pretty tough, Zach," observed Tavi.

Hunter leaned against the ropes of the large ring. "Nah," he said. "It's all those muscles. Makes him look stronger than he really is."

"That doesn't make sense."

Hunter looked around. "Anila, I'm currently talking to you, one of my best friends, who is a mongoose. I just threatened a capybara reporter, I'm being glared at by a raccoon mayor and a water buffalo chief, and the whole planet seems to think that the fate of Terra will be decided by a freaking boxing match. Sense has left the building."

"I think mammals are just looking for something to help them decide between the humans and Drex," said Tavi. "I mean, they don't really know humans. They also don't know the Drex. And they're scared to be caught in the middle."

"Well, I guess it's time to show them what we're made of."

A referee- a giraffe who was apparently some sort of hotshot in the boxing world- made his way to the center of the ring and gestured to Hunter and Octavius. The human moved forward, his stare matched by the Drex.

"All right," said the giraffe. "I want a good, clean fight. No strikes below the belt. No gouges or biting. If a fighter taps out, the fight ends. And may the best mammal win."

"Drex are objectively superior," said Octavius in a bored tone.

"You know, saying things like that is why no one likes you," Hunter told him.

"I look forward to seeing your fear," said Octavius. "I cannot understand it, but I have learned to recognize it. Such as on the faces of the humans at Luyten." He smiled. "It must be terrible, to die in fear."

Hunter stiffened. "You're going to pay for that," he said, his voice cold.

Octavius leaned forward. "Make me."

Nervously, the giraffe got between them. "Back to your corners. When I ring the bell, come out fighting."

Hunter returned to his corner, where Tavi watched worriedly. "Aren't you going to strip down like he did?" she said, indicating Octavius.

"What?" He glanced over. "Oh, no. No one wants to see that."

She blinked, and shrugged unconvincingly. "Of course not. But for freedom of movement-"

"Down, girl," he said jokingly. "You want to see me with my shirt off, you'll have to buy me dinner first." He twisted from side to side, grimacing at an old pain in his shoulder. He didn't notice how Tavi blushed.

The bell rung. Slowly, Octavius started pacing toward him.

"Zach-" said Tavi.

"The thing about having no fear," said Hunter conversationally, watching Octavius advance, "is that you also tend to not anticipate. The thing about the Drex isn't that they're scared, for they aren't, but that they are never, ever ready."

He walked out to meet Octavius.

As they closed, the Drex smiled. "There was a lot of debate about you, Mr. Hunter. Whether you were as dangerous as you seemed."

Hunter just kept walking, closing the distance. Right now, the important thing was not to take a serious hit- the Drex was so much more powerful than him that even one punch could be a knockout- or worse. He had to win fast and hard.

His friends were depending on him.

Octavius backed up slightly, his eyes calculating.

"Said that you were dangerous. I say that you are nothing more than a superannuated policeman with delusions of-"

Hunter dashed at him.

Taken by surprise, Octavius swung. Hunter took the punch on his shoulder as he plowed into the Drex.

 _Damn, that_ still _hurt,_ he thought, but the pain was buried under his concentration. He grabbed the Drex by the shoulders, gripping hard.

Octavius reacted immediately, bringing his hands up to break Hunter's grip. With contemptuous ease, the Drex shoved his arms to either side and gripped Hunter's forearms with vise-like strength.

Before he could make his next move, however, Hunter brought his knee up into the Drex's groin.

Hard. All the fear, all the anger, all the hate he had built up for the Drex went into that knee.

Drex were supermen, but they still had their weak points.

Octavius's eyes bugged out and he bent over, almost double. He glared up with surprised eyes at Hunter. "That's against the rules," he said, wheezing. His voice seemed a few octaves higher.

"Yep," said Hunter. He brought his fist up into the Drex's solar plexus- another weak point- and Octavius collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Hunter immediately kicked him in the face, then shoved him onto his back with his foot. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the giraffe referee approaching. He whirled around.

"Stand back!" he shouted. "I don't need a damned referee."

The giraffe halted. Hunter took a step towards him. His eyes were coldly furious, locking onto the giraffe's.

The referee retreated to the sidelines.

The crowd was utterly silent, as still as frozen reeds around a pond.

Hunter returned to Octavius, who was struggling to breathe. He dropped onto the Drex's chest with one knee, causing him to lose what little breath he had regained. Hunter hit him hard in the face.

"That's for my father," he said casually. "You want to challenge me, Drex? Come here with a bunch of silly rules?" He hit him again, harder. Fear was driving his arms, now. Fear and rage.

"How long have we been fighting you freaks?" snarled Hunter. "Ten thousand years? More? How long until you figure out that humans don't have rules when it comes to survival?"

He hit him again. Blood spattered his face as the Drex's nose broke. Hunter ignored it. This thing was here, threatening him? Threatening his friends?

He wasn't going to lose anyone else.

"You think fear is a bad thing, Drex." Another strike. Hunter's fist struck teeth, cut his knuckle. He didn't even notice the pain. "That it makes us weak." Another punch. Octavius's face was bleeding from multiple cuts, his eye already starting to swell. The superman moved his head weakly, groggily. "What it means, Drex, is that we'll do whatever it takes to win."

Hunter moved close to him, deliberately placing his weight on the knee on Octavius's chest. "Who is Prometheus?" he said, his voice very low.

The Drex's eyes focused. "Who?" His voice was low, barely able to breathe from the damage he had taken and Hunter's weight on his chest.

"Prometheus!" snarled Hunter. "Who is he?"

Octavius shook his head. "I do not know," he gasped.

For a moment, Hunter held his gaze. He didn't see fear, of course- but he saw something else. Deception. Angrily, Hunter reached for the chain around his neck.

He held up the badge. "I know you can't fear me, Octavius." He took out a lighter and played it across the badge, holding it up by the chain. The lighter was a powerful one. The badge grew hotter and hotter. "So I figured I'd give you something to remember me by."

Ignoring the pain, Hunter grabbed the back of the badge and slapped it against Octavius's face.

The Drex howled as the badge burned his face with a sizzle of vaporizing sweat, and the shrill sound seemed to break the spell that had fallen over the crowd. Immediately, several ZPD officers rushed to the combatants, dragging Hunter off the fallen Drex. The other Drex dragged Octavius away.

"This is my city!" shouted Hunter as he was yanked away by Wolferd and Tailwhisker. "This is my home! You think of that every time you look into the mirror!"

He was thrown, hard, into the chair in his corner. He started to stand up, but both Tailwhisker and Wolferd slammed him back down into the chair. He looked up at them. They both were staring at him, angry- but also a little nervous. "What?" he asked, surprised. "What's the matter with-"

"Zach."

He turned to look at Tavi, who was-

Backing away from him, her mouth open wide in horror.

And for a moment, he saw himself through her eyes. Spattered with blood, having just beaten another sapient being to a pulp. Snarling as he pummeled the Drex over and over. Branding him with her badge.

He looked up. The Terran newscrews were taking pictures as fast as they could work their cameras as the Drex worked over Octavius's prone form. The Human delegation stared at him with grim faces- except for one. Khabat, near the back, was watching him with pity in her eyes. That was worse.

"You don't understand," he told Tavi. "I won."

She turned and fled.

"Tavi- wait!" He watched her go. "It was the only way to keep you safe," he said, too low for anyone to hear.

"Leave her alone, Hunter," said Captain Tailwhisker. He looked up at the lion as she spoke. "You've done enough damage today."

"Damage?" he said. He looked up at Tailwhisker. "I won. I showed everyone what humans are capable of."

"Yeah," said Tailwhisker. Her voice was hard. "You did."

 _Author's Note: So Erinnyes noted in a conversation with me that humans seem to have "forgotten how to be the good guys", so that line is from him. I really liked it- thought it summed up very well what I was trying to say._


	26. Chapter 25- Savage

Chapter 25- Savage

"Good cop, bad cop," said Nick.

They all stood outside one of the interrogation rooms where Warren was being held. "Not again," said Judy in exasperation. "I told you, Nick, it never works."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," said Barker, peering into the room. "Louis and I pulled it off before."

"Only because you have really big, sharp teeth," said Wu, looking up from his desk. "Look, Warren probably doesn't know much. We don't really need his statement, we need his cooperation if we're going to pull this off."

"So we need to be friendly," said Judy. "Get him on our side."

The other cops looked at her in astonishment. "No," said Wu. "We need to scare the ever-living daylights out of him."

Judy frowned. "That seems kinda cruel."

"He's a gun-runner, Hopps, not a choirboy." Wu stood up. "I'll take first crack at him."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So what's it going to be, Warren? Ten years hard labor or you work with us?" said Wu.

The tramp freighter captain shook his head. "Listen, sergeant, I'm not trying to be a hard case here but- ten years in prison, with time off for good behavior, sounds a hell of a lot better than trying to dodge the crap that will be falling on me if I turn snitch."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"It's your only chance," said Arrizondo. She had switched out with Wu about an hour ago. "This is the real deal, Warren. We've explained what we want out of you. If all goes well-"

"And what if it doesn't?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Warren frowned at the wolf across from him, who gave him a nice, big smile.

He flinched.

"You need to ask yourself, Warren, which enemy you want to make today?" said Barker. "The gun-runners? Or me?"

Her smiled broadened.

Warren paled, but shook his head. "Sorry. I just can't help you."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick walked into the interrogation room, hopped up onto the seat across from Warren, and leaned back.

As the captain stared, surprised, at the fox, Judy took the next seat, her head suddenly appearing over the table.

"So, Mr. Warren," said Judy, opening a folder on the table.

"Captain," said Warren.

Nick slammed his paw on the table. "Don't interrupt her when she's talking to you!"

"I- what?" He looked at Nick. "Are you being intimidating? Is this really happening?"

"We're trying to help you here," said Judy earnestly. "Look, it's their fault- the guys we're after- that you got caught, right? So help us get them. We put them in jail and you walk away."

Nick lunged across the table, forcing the human to lean back. "You need to stop playing games, Warren. Yeah, maybe we put you away for ten years, but maybe we just spread it around that we learned something from you, too. How long you think you'll last on Delta Pavilion?"

"Pavonis," whispered Judy.

"Delta Pavonis," said Nick, unfazed. "Ten years is a long time to be surrounded by scumbags, Warren. Though maybe you'll like the company. Birds of a feather and all."

He sat back down and Judy picked up the dialogue, though not before giving her partner an uneasy glance. "It's easy, what we're asking. Just a quick meeting, a drop-off, then you go home. We won't even need you for court if this all works out."

"I don't know, Carrots," said Nick disgustedly. "Maybe we're wasting our time. We got lots of other fish to fry if we don't like the smell of this one."

"He's just a businessman, trying to get by, Nick," said Judy. "Let's give him a chance." She looked back at Warren. "A chance to get by, right?"

The ship captain looked from one to another, nonplussed. "Hang on a sec. Am I being 'good-copped, bad copped' by a fox and a bunny rabbit?"

"Is it working?" asked Nick eagerly. Judy covered her eyes with her paw.

The captain sighed. "It's more like 'surreal-cop, even-more-surreal-cop. If you're this desperate, fine. I don't want to see what woodland creatures are next."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter found himself hustled into Bogo's office, away from the uproar on the roof of the station. Tailwhisker practically tossed him into the visitor's chair in front of Bogo's desk, then stood silently, her arms crossed.

"Am I under arrest?" asked Hunter. "I'm only asking out of curiosity, you understand."

"I don't know what you are, Hunter," said Tailwhisker. "What the hell got into you?"

Hunter scowled up at her. "He was going to hurt me, Captain, and then he was probably going to hurt my friends and my home. I stopped him from doing that."

"You beat him to within an inch of his life!"

"Oh, don't exaggerate. It's a hell of a lot harder to kill a Drex than that." Hunter frowned at her when she raised an eyebrow. "We get Drex infiltrators periodically back home, Captain. You put them down fast and you put them down hard. Anything else gets you- and anyone around you- killed. I didn't do what I did because I enjoyed it." Though, if he was being honest, a part of him did.

It was a part he didn't like to think about much. A part that didn't see justice, but revenge.

A chill ran up his spine as he thought about that. He started to wonder if maybe, just maybe, he had gone a little too far this time.

The door opened and Bogo walked in. "Dismissed, Captain," he told Tailwhisker as he walked to his desk.

"Sir, are you sure-"

"Yes. Leave. Now."

The lion nodded and walked out, shooting an uneasy glance at Hunter as she did.

Hunter looked at the water buffalo. "All right," he said resignedly. "I'm ready for the chewing-out."

Bogo reached into his drawer, pulled out a familiar badge. He tossed it to Hunter.

Hunter caught it, stared in confusion.

It was his badge.

"It's not a reward," said Bogo, his voice very calm. As if he was deliberately working to keep it that way. "Congratulations, Hunter. I'm graduating you from the Academy."

"But- if it's not a reward-"

"I don't want you anywhere near those cadets," said Bogo. "Or anywhere near anyone, for that matter. But I can't fire you." He pulled a paper towards him and began to write. "You're being transferred."

"Um, sir-"

"Shut up, Hunter." His voice was still very calm, but something told Hunter he should obey. "We need an officer in the impound lot. Someone to maintain track of inventory, sign vehicles in and out." Bogo met his eyes. "Lots of paperwork. No real police work."

Hunter swallowed. "Sir, let me explain."

The chief gave him a long, hard stare, then nodded. "Fine. You deserve that much."

Nervously, Hunter rubbed his sweating palms against his pants leg. "The Drex are dangerous, sir. They killed my father- I never even knew him. They've killed millions of humans. Whatever they're up to, it's not good for Terra."

"Fair enough," said Bogo. "So why did you beat the hell out of that one? Do you think it'll stop them?"

"They know I'll try," said Hunter acidly. "And they know it will cost them."

Bogo shook his head in wonderment. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"What?"

"Millions of mammals just watched you savagely attack- in direct defiance of the rules, mind- a person, nearly killing him on live TV. Then you tortured him by branding him with that badge. Hunter, you were- and are- seen as representing your species on Terra by a great many mammals. How do you think that makes humanity look?"

Hunter's eyes slowly widened with realization. "Oh, shit."

"Very much so, Hunter. The Drex delegation was overjoyed- oh, they looked sad and distressed whenever the cameras were on them, but I overheard them talking." Bogo leaned back. "You may have just made up the minds of the mammals of Terra, Hunter. In favor of the Drex."

"I was just trying to protect everyone," said Hunter, his voice a whisper. "Nick, Judy, Tavi- my friends. My family."

The chief stood up, held out the transfer orders. "Well, congratulations, Officer Hunter." His voice was hard again as Hunter reluctantly accepted the paperwork.

"It looks like you just handed the job of protecting Terra to the Drex."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi walked into the darkened garage, spotting Shepherd's bulk almost immediately.

It was quiet, right now. The mechanics had all gone home. She sniffed, smelling the familiar odors of grease and oil.

She was trying to forget different smells. Of blood and burned flesh.

She walked up to Shepherd, who swung an optical sensor to face her. It wasn't strictly necessary, she knew, but he had learned that it was a gesture that showed he was paying attention. "Hey, Shepherd."

"Commander." The tank's voice was flat, but somehow conveyed puzzlement. "You are not scheduled for duty at this time."

"I just needed someone to talk to." Someone who didn't just want to talk to her about how Hunter had finally lost it. How he had shown what humans were really like.

"I see," said Shepherd. "Should I contact one of the departmental psychologists?"

She shuddered. "No. What do you do when someone you love does something horrible? I mean, I know this is sort of strange to you, but you're logical, right? What's the logical thing to do?"

Shepherd hesitated. "I do not understand the concepts you are talking about."

"It's Hunter. He attacked a Drex. Mercilessly. Viciously." She paused, remembering. "Savagely," she whispered.

"Drex. Drex are classified as hostile. Officer Hunter's actions in assaulting one was within common rules of engagement," said Shepherd.

"He broke the rules," said Tavi. "He attacked him in a way that he shouldn't."

"Unclear," said Shepherd. "What rules?"

Tavi explained about the challenge and the rules that had been set up. "It scared me, Shepherd. I mean, he's always been a bit of a rule-breaker, but-"

"If he broke the rules of engagement laid out by a superior," said the tank patiently, "Then proper discipline should be undertaken. This will ensure that further remediation is not required."

"Wow," said Tavi. "You really don't know Hunter, do you?"

"I spoke to Officer Hunter," said the tank. "He is wise."

The mongoose did a double-take. "He's what?"

"Wise. Wisdom. The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Officer Hunter has survived as a patrol officer for many years on Alphacen, where most police officers either transfer to less dangerous assignments or are discharged KIA or WIA." Shepherd's optical sensor stayed on her face. "Officer Hunter is wise."

"He nearly murdered that Drex," said Tavi. "Over a game. A contest."

"Drex are hostile," repeated Shepherd.

"Do they have to be?"

There was a silence. "Drex are classified hostile-"

"Why? Or more accurately, why can we not try and re-classify them?" asked Tavi. "Because they're different? Unnatural?" Her voice rose on the last word.

The tank backed away slightly, sensors waving in confusion. "Are you upset, Commander?"

"I am!" she shouted. "I thought he could change! I believed that maybe, just maybe, he could learn to see past what we are- or what mammals think we are- to what we could become!"

Shepherd backed up until he bumped the wall, sending tools on their racks jangling. "Commander, have I done something wrong?"

Her shoulders slumped. "No," she said, her voice falling to a whisper. She was silent. "He was my friend," she said quietly. A tear ran down her cheek, fell to the floor.

"Friendship is a lie," said Shepherd carefully.

The tank couldn't blink, but it shifted nervously at the furious look Tavi gave it. "What did you say?" she hissed.

"Love, friendship, honor- these are all lies," said Shepherd nervously.

"Who told you that?" demanded Tavi.

"Officer Hunter," said the tank. "He is wise."

Tavi's eyes filled with tears. She turned and stalked out of the garage, into the gathering darkness.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick woke up to find himself being shaken- rather more violently than necessary, he felt- by Judy. "Wake up," she hissed. "We've got a problem."

He instantly became awake, throwing off the covers and sliding out of bed, dressed only in his boxer shorts. He grabbed a pair of trousers from a nearby chair and pulled them on. "What's going on?"

"Come into the operations room and you'll see." She darted back into the hotel suite's living room, which they had dubbed the "operations room".

Nick threw on a shirt and followed her. "What's up?"

Barker, who was rifling through a pile of papers, looked up. "Wow, fastest I've ever seen you wake up. Maybe you should treat every morning as an emergency."

Before he could answer, Judy held up one of their laptops. It showed ZNN's website.

SAVAGE HUNTER, screamed the headline. Below the headline, there was a massive photo of Hunter astride a prone Drex, his fist cocked back. Blood spattered his clothing and face.

Nick blinked. "The Drex probably had it coming."

"That's remarkably understanding of you," said Judy acidly.

"Come on, Hunter wouldn't just try and murder anyone," said Nick. He wandered over to get a cup of coffee. "Only people who deserve it. And maybe lawyers."

"That's repetitious, Nick," observed Wu. Barker gave him a flat look.

"And also in bad taste," she said. "Remember Hart?"

Nick blinked and looked away, abashed. "I didn't mean that," he said.

"The point is," said Judy, trying to get the conversation back on track, "things are looking pretty dicey between the humans and Terra right now. They could recall us at any moment."

Nick looked at her. "Seriously?"

It was Barker who answered. "Yeah. We just got a call from the embassy. They're expecting the Terran government to bring us home within a week. Maybe sooner."

Nick rubbed his cheek, thinking. "Hmm. I really expected more time than that. Wanted to build up a little more trust with Liu. But-" he snapped his fingers, "Wait a minute."

The fox dashed over to where his phone was charging and snatched it up. "This may be just what we needed. An excuse."

Judy and Barker looked at each other, bemused. "Excuse for what?" asked Barker.

Nick had already dialed. He held up a paw, forestalling any further questions. "Yes, this is Nick Wilde. May I speak to Chamberman Liu?"

"Nick, what are you doing?" asked Judy warily.

He covered the phone's receiver with his paw. "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm working the mark." His ears perked up. "Ah, Chamberman. Yes, I did see the news- I suspect you know the embassy is thinking about leaving? Well, as it happens, there is one final way you could show your friendship for us, if you were so inclined."

Judy blinked. "Nick-"

He waved her to silence. "Well, obviously we're concerned about the Drex- we both know the humans are better allies. So we were wondering if we could do a deal. Perhaps some samples of human weaponry-"

"You're doing an arms deal?" hissed Judy.

"Yes, I'll hold," said Nick. He looked at Judy. "That's the next step of the plan."

"An arms deal."

"Of course."

Wu shook his head. "He'll never go for it, Nick."

Before Nick could answer, Liu's muffled voice spoke again from his phone. "You can?" said Nick. "Great! It will really help defend us from the Drex! I can see we're likely to have a long and profitable relationship." He nodded as he listened further. "Yes, I'll be waiting for your call with details. I actually have a list of some weapons that we're particularly interested in. I'll let you know when you call."

He hung up. "Well, that was easy."

"There's no way," said Wu. "Why would he go for it so quickly?"

Nick shrugged. "I have a hunch, but it's just that. For now, I need a shopping list for Liu." He reached over and picked up a document- a copy of the shipping manifest from Warren's cargo ship.

"What are you going to do with that?" asked Barker.

Nick raised an eyebrow at her. "Go shopping."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Chamberman Liu thoughtfully replaced the receiver of his phone.

Avenford Raines, sitting across from him, raised an eyebrow. "Was that who I think it was?"

"Young Nicholas Wilde? Yes, it was. Wanting weapons to 'defend themselves against the Drex.'"

Raines shook his head. "I don't like it, sir. They're planning something."

"Are they?" Liu smiled. "Fortunately, so am I. Do we have any shipments on-planet still? Something we can redirect easily?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Terrans and Human Stars delegation were meeting in a different room than usual. Maximus had changed it partly as a symbolic gesture- showing the changed nature of their relationship- and partly because he needed the massive television that dominated one corner of the room.

Maximus stood as Castell and the rest of the human delegation entered the room. "Premier," said Castell, his eyes calculating. "I really think it's premature to recall your delegation based on the actions of one man-"

"One mammal who has become something of a symbol of humanity- its flaws and virtues- to many Terrans," said Maximus. "One man who violated the rules of what was intended to be a friendly bout between two neutrals and nearly killed a member of the Drex delegation."

"Exaggeration," said Castell. "It takes a lot more to kill a Drex than that."

"You would know," said a new voice. Maximus kept his eyes locked on Castell, who turned to face the newcomer. Castell's eyes narrowed as he recognized Octavius, his face still scarred with the shield-shaped badge of the ZPD. "You've killed enough Drex yourself, Colonel Castell."

"Not a colonel anymore," said the diplomat. "I retired."

"Indeed," said Octavius, smiling tightly. "Strange how they send a retired colonel as the ambassador, isn't it, premier? You are aware that most of the embassy staff have military backgrounds as well?"

"Almost everyone from Alphacen has a military background, Octavius," said Castell in exasperation. "The draft laws."

"Yes, the draft laws. Everyone must do their part, isn't that right?" The Drex pulled out a chair and sat, his eyes intent on the human. "All humans are trained to be killers from an early age, are they not?"

Castell growled slightly. "Drex need no training at all, of course. It's just their nature," he sneered.

The Terran delegation flinched. Maximus's eyes narrowed. "Since we've made contact with the Drex," said Maximus, "They have been respectful, courteous, and understanding. Since we made contact with the Human Stars, you have been arrogant, condescending, and even carried out what is arguably an act of war. Two if you count the Horne incident."

The human ambassador's face snapped to the elephant. "Your excellency-"

"You have, throughout this process, treated us at best as wayward calves," continued Maximus remorselessly. "You act as though we, having been created rather than 'naturally' evolved, are a lesser species than you." He looked at the Drex. "The Drex are also a 'created' species, from what I understand."

"They are nothing like you," said Castell emolliently. "You are much more human than any other species-"

"Is this how you compliment us, Ambassador?" said Maximus acerbically. "By comparing us to you? By implying that we are almost human?" He reached for a remote, and clicked the television on.

The first image was one of an old office building. The windows were shattered, debris scattered the street around it. Police cars, their lights flashing, surrounded it. In the foreground, two paramedics worked on a bobcat laid out on a stretcher, while behind them a series of other stretchers were rolling past, each one with a zipped body bag on it.

Castell grimaced. "The Raid, as you call it. The perpetrators were punished. A human provided valuable assistance in saving lives."

"Yes," said Maximus. He clicked a button on the remote again.

A new image, this time of the interior of a warehouse. A crime scene photo. Three bodies lay where they had crumpled, each one shot at least once through the head. "It was a human who did this," observed Maximus.

"He did it to save the lives of two of your officers," argued Castell.

"He did," agreed Maximus. Another click.

The screen showed Octavius, screaming silently in pain as Hunter held a badge to his face. Maximus glanced at the Drex, who reached up to gingerly touch the still-livid scar on his cheek.

"What is your explanation for this-" Maximus hesitated over the word, "-savagery?"

"He did what he had to," said Castell. "What he needed to do to win." The human looked uncomfortable.

"What he needed to do," repeated the premier. He stepped around the table to Octavius, who stood at his approach. "How badly would you have injured Hunter had you won, Mr. Octavius?"

The Drex shrugged. "Perhaps a broken bone, though I would have tried to avoid that. Most likely, the worst he might have had was a concussion, and perhaps not even that."

"You can't trust a Drex-" shouted Castell. He stopped as Maximus raised a massive paw.

"Tell me why," asked the elephant quietly, "I should trust a human."

Castell hesitated.

"It is the nature of humans to fear," said Octavius. "Especially to fear the unknown. Hunter did not know what I might do to him. So he reacted savagely, viciously. It was an over-reaction, brought on entirely by fear." He paced towards Castell. "Tell me, Ambassador, why do the Drex engage in games and contests?"

The human said nothing at first, then realized he had little choice. "To realistically assess potential threats," he said reluctantly. He already knew where Octavius was going.

"To realistically assess potential threats," repeated Octavius. He looked at Maximus. "We do not engage in vicious, preemptive assaults just because of what we fear might happen." He sneered at the word fear, looking Castell in the face. The ambassador flushed red with rage.

When he spoke, his voice was thick with suppressed anger. "Premier Maximus, it is true that we fear. That we fear what we don't understand. But this is a trait common to all mammals. You have much more in common with us than the Drex."

"Except peace," murmured Octavius.

"We have been at peace-"

"A rather high body count for peace, don't you think?" said Octavius blandly.

"Enough!" said Maximus, smashing his trunk down on the table. "Ambassador Castell, I invited Ambassador Octavius here for a specific reason. Ambassador-" he nodded to Octavius- "please explain your proposal."

Octavius snapped his fingers, and one of the other members of the Drex delegation stepped forward, handing him a folder. "A mutual commerce treaty," said Octavius. "Between Terra and the Commonwealth." The Commonwealth was the name of the Drex worlds.

Castell frowned. "This is unwise," he warned Maximus. "The Drex frequently infiltrate spies and saboteurs on worlds they-" he stopped as he realized the likely response.

"Yes," said Maximus dryly. "Not at all like the humans. I didn't invite Octavius here just to rub this in your face, Castell." He nodded to the Drex Ambassador.

"We've agreed on the treaty between the Commonwealth and Terra," said Octavius smoothly. "Now, we'd like to offer the chance for a third partner to join the agreement."

Castell exchanged confused looks with the other members of the human delegation. He looked back at Octavius. "You don't mean-"

"The Human Stars," said Octavius. "Yes. We're offering you the chance to sign a peace treaty, binding the Human Stars, Terra, and the Commonwealth together." He leaned back, satisfied.

A long silence built up. Castell and Octavius locked gazes. Maximus eyed them curiously.

The old elephant was no fool. He knew that the Drex were trying to play the humans, make them look bad. They expected the humans to turn down the offer. But did the Drex know he knew that? It was the sort of consideration that made politics such a headache.

Conversely, he didn't understand why the Drex seemed so confident that the humans would turn down the offer. Why not just accept it? It would create peace, at least for a while, even if it were true that humans and the Drex simply were destined to never get along.

Finally, Castell reached over and slid the folder to himself. "I must contact Alphacen for instructions," he said, his voice low. He rose.

Octavius rose, as well. "I understand."

As Castell turned to leave, Octavius spoke again. "Ambassador Castell." The human turned back.

"You think of yourselves as leaders, as natural protectors," said the Drex quietly. "As interstellar policemen, as it were. But you've been taking that role on for too long without any oversight, without any check on your own actions. Maybe it's time we tried cooperation. Try and keep the peace together."

Castell gave him a hard look, then turned back and continued walking.

When they had left the room, Maximus sat down in his seat. "You are very confident they will reject the treaty," he observed.

Octavius sighed. "They're barbarians, in many ways. Savage, as Terrans would say. Not wholly without honor or redeeming value, mind you. But- there is one other provision to the treaty I would like to propose."

Maximus was instantly wary. "What's that?"

"You are under a grave threat from the humans, Premier," warned Octavius. "Because you are- from their point of view- a grave threat to them."

"A threat?" said the elephant, amused. "Oh, certainly we've made vast strides in technology based on what we've seen of theirs, but we have nothing to match even a small human warship. There is nothing that we can do to harm them."

"Isn't there?" said Octavius thoughtfully. "Yet your ancestors are here, on Terra, the ancient human homeworld. And the humans are not."

Maximus stared at him for a long moment. "Perhaps they left voluntarily when they created us?" he suggested. "Let us develop our own way."

"And yet try to exterminate you?" pointed out Octavius. "No, there is some reason they were forced to leave your ancestors alive. Something that stopped them. Something that might still be here."

Maximus felt a shiver run down his spine.

"The technological level of the United Terrans was much higher than our current capabilities," said Octavius. "Who knows what technologies might have survived from those ancient times?"

"It's not something I like to think about," muttered Maximus.

"I assure you the humans do not, either." Octavius stood and bowed to the elephant. "But I also assure you they are."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Octavius walked into the embassy, and was immediately confronted by an older man. "Sextus," he greeted him, bowing his head. "I had not heard you had arrived."

"This operation has been going on far too long," said Sextus. He nodded at the elevator. "You will brief me on what has happened thus far."

The two men walked through the lobby of the Drex embassy. In contrast to the almost ostentatious defenses of the Human Stars embassy, there was no security visible- the only Drex to be seen were apparently office staff, hurrying to and fro on their own private errands.

Appearances could be deceiving. Octavius stopped one young Drex woman. "Aurelia, my dear, as much as we may appreciate your very flattering ensemble-" he tapped one side of her tight-fitting suit, eliciting a metallic tap as he made contact with her concealed pistol- "it rather gives the game away."

"My apologies, Octavius," she said. "I shall put on a jacket."

"I'll have the staff lower the air conditioning a bit, so any Terrans won't be curious why so many of us are wearing heavy clothing," said Octavius. He looked at Sextus. "Details."

"Always details. The humans say that God is in the details, Octavius."

"Not our god," he responded. "Which is why you're here, I imagine."

They entered the elevator. Sextus eyed Octavius. "I read your report. Regarding your contest with Hunter." He grabbed the younger man's chin and twisted it slightly, studying the scar on his cheek. "You seem to have come off the worse for it."

"Have I?" said Octavius. He took a deft step back, breaking Sextus's grip. His superior frowned slightly. "The Terrans now have seen just how vicious the humans can be. All they have against us is propaganda by the humans."

"You mean you deliberately allowed yourself to be defeated?" said Sextus, his eyebrows raising.

"Not entirely," admitted Octavius. "I had anticipated drawing it out more. It was- somewhat humiliating how quickly he beat me."

Sextus nodded slowly. "Honesty, it seems. There have been concerns about you, Octavius."

The elevator dinged and the two Drex walked out. They nodded a greeting to a functionary who bowed deeply to his two superiors.

"Concerns, sir?" said Octavius as they entered his office. He closed the door behind him. "What concerns?"

"This peace treaty," said Sextus. "What is the purpose?"

"The humans won't sign it," said Octavius. "And so the Terrans will distrust their motives."

"You fail to consider the alternative." The statement was a simple declaration of fact, but Octavius stiffened. Failure to consider alternatives was a grave sin for the Drex- they had to think things through, because they lacked fear to guide them.

"I did not," he said stiffly.

"Then what if the humans do, in fact, sign it?"

"Would that be so bad?" asked Octavius.

There was a long silence, his superior studying him closely. "The humans must not be allowed to flourish," he said finally. "At some point, the superior species must be triumphant over the weak."

"Yes, but not necessarily now." Octavius unconsciously touched the burn on his cheek, wincing slightly at the pain. "And what harm will it do to wait a bit longer, if it makes us more likely to succeed?"

"The time is now," insisted Sextus. "The humans must be destroyed for good."

"Why?" The word slipped out of Octavius's mouth before he could stop himself.

Sextus's fist slammed into his stomach, and he found himself on the floor, retching. "The humans must be destroyed," repeated Sextus. There was no anger in his voice. He kicked Octavius hard in the kidney. "The Council of Seven has decreed it. You are not of the Seven yet, Octavius."

"Septimus is dead," gasped the younger man. "I am Octavius."

"You are not of the Council _yet_ ," Sextus reminded him again. "You may be soon. In the meantime, your punishment for questioning the Council is not yet complete." He pulled a small device from his coat pocket. It had a long, thin, metal tube, connected to a black rubber handle with a switch on it. He toggled the switch briefly, and an arc of electricity shot out.

There was no fear in a Drex. No fear of punishment. So Octavius felt only a mild sense of frustration as Sextus hauled him into a chair and began applying the end of the device to his skin.

Then he felt nothing but pain for a long moment. When Sextus removed the device, he gasped for breath.

"It's necessary," said the older man. "For your own good. If the consequences are not immediate and dire, it is far too easy for a Drex to question the common good. We have no fear of death, of ostracism. Lack of fear makes it too easy for us to rationalize the negative consequences away. Only by making them horrific indeed can we overcome our tendency to rationalize." He applied the stick again. Octavius writhed as his nerves were hyper-stimulated, the sensation remarkably akin to being burned over his whole body.

"Once more," said Sextus, eyeing the panting Drex critically. He suited action to words, and Octavius collapsed, falling off the chair.

He waited as the younger Drex slowly pulled himself back up onto his chair. He looked up at Sextus. "I hear and obey, Sextus."

The older man nodded gravely. "Have strength, Octavius. You will be Septimus, if you succeed." He turned as if to leave, then looked back. "I have one question."

"Yes?" Octavius's muscles ached, a burning sensation still running through them periodically.

"You could have had that scar removed already," said Sextus. "Why do you still have it?"

Octavius, in answer, raised his arm, showing his wrist where a burn scar was visible. "This is how we learned that fire hurts," he said. "When we were children."

Sextus glanced at his own wrist, where his own scar was. "Yes?"

Octavius pointed to his cheek. "This is how I learned that Hunter is a dangerous human."

"So you intend to keep it? For how long?"

"Until he is a danger no more," replied Octavius.


	27. Chapter 26- Lost

Chapter 26- Lost

Judy watched her friends as they bustled about in the motel room.

Barker and Wu had their heads together over a laptop, occasionally murmuring snatches of sentences that made little sense to anyone else. It was not uncommon for police partners, to be able to sense what the other was thinking just from a muttered fragment.

Arrizondo was cleaning their firearms, double-checking to make sure the slides were working.

And Nick was kicked back in a recliner, sipping coffee and humming tunelessly to himself.

Judy felt useless. She didn't like the feeling, so she decided to go talk to Nick.

He blinked as she hopped up into the recliner next to him. "So what's the plan?"

"You keep asking me that."

"And you keep not answering." She poked him in the ribs. "So what is it?"

"It's sort of a work in progress," he said absently. "Hey, what's a KAT?"

Arrizondo looked up. "A cat? Is this a trick question?"

"No, with a K. KAT."

"Oh," she said, looking back down at her work. "Kinetic Anti-Tank. High-powered rifle that fires a projectile at almost relativistic speeds. Used for penetrating tank armor."

Nick blinked. "Wow. Because there's apparently four of them on the shipment we seized. Did Warren do what we asked him to do?"

Wu glanced up from the computer. "He's back at the spaceport. He reported to his contacts in the gun-runners that he hit a snag and will be delayed a few days."

"Great," said Nick. "And we have the buyer's information. I think we've just about got what we need."

"This is really infuriating," observed Judy.

"Yes," he said cheerfully. "It is. But fun."

"Come on, Nick. What's the plan, here? We do a sting on Liu when he gives us the weapons?"

"Sure. But- hmm. Do you know three-card monte? It's where the hustler takes three cards-" Nick pulled out a deck of cards from his pocket and chose three, "-and shuffles them." He leaned over to the coffe table next to the recliner and laid them out. He showed Judy one, the queen of spades. "Like so." He shuffled them around and around, over and on top of one another, until they were thoroughly mixed up. "So? Find the lady."

"I may just be a dumb country bunny," said Judy, slightly exasperated, "But even I know this one. You palmed the queen. There is no lady, right?"

Nick sighed theatrically. "She got me." He turned up one card. "Or did she?"

The card was the queen of spades.

Judy shrugged. "Okay, so maybe-"

Without speaking, Nick turned up another card. It was also the queen of spades.

Judy blinked.

The third card was turned over- the queen of spades. "You can't win in regular three card monte," explained Nick. "But this is a variation. This time, you can't lose."

"Setting up the mark for a bigger loss?" asked Arrizondo, who had watched Nick's demonstration.

"Not quite. But when the mark thinks he can't lose- that's exactly how you win." Nick deftly shuffled the cards back into the deck.

Judy looked at him, amused despite herself. "You are a sly fox."

He smirked. "Yep."

"Hey, guys?" said Wu suddenly. His voice sounded odd. "You should look at this."

Frowning, Judy traded a look with Nick and joined the wolf and human at the laptop. "What is this?" she asked, seeing rows of numbers.

"Accounts of a company that belongs to Liu," said Barker. "We've been going through this data with a fine-toothed comb. This company specialized in pharmaceuticals."

"What, like drugs?"

"Yes, but probably not what you're thinking," answered Wu. "Medical pharmaceuticals, nothing that could be recreational. Including this little cocktail." He highlighted a segment, which appeared to be revenue from a particular series of medicines.

Nick leaned over and read it. "I don't recognize any of those. What's the big deal?"

"This company holds the patent on it," said Wu. "That's the drug cocktail used to cure schizophrenia."

Judy's ears stood straight up. "Oh!"

Arrizondo frowned. "What?"

Wu leaned back. "Hunter was cured of schizophrenia when he was about eighteen. According to the case reports we've received about the incident on Terra involving Lucas, Lucas was in charge of developing that particular cure."

"With backing from someone high-up on Terra," said Nick slowly. "Someone who had the financial and political pull to keep a serial killer out of jail."

Judy nodded. "Liu."

"So Liu was backing Lucas," said Nick. "That's interesting."

"And bad," said Judy. "Very, very bad. Lucas was a psycho." She shivered, remembering the scars on the mammals they had rescued during the Raid.

"Well, one thing's for sure," said Wu. "We can't let Hunter know about this."

"What?" said Arrizondo. "Why not?"

"Because Liu would never make it to trial," said Nick.

"Hunter's on another planet, Nick."

"So?"

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Khabat eyed Castell as he furiously paced the floor. "This is an outrage," he said, for the fifth time. "Just who do these mammals think they are?"

"A sovereign state?" suggested Khabat.

"A naive sovereign state! What, do they really think the Drex, of all beings, are really trying to make peace with them?" Castell shook his head. "It's a trick."

"Well, yes," said Khabat. She leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ambassador. "But frankly, Castell, you haven't been the best ambassador, either."

He stopped abruptly and gave her a cold glare. "Excuse me?"

"They're not children, Castell. They're thinking adults. Yes, they're a bit naive. But you kept throwing that in their face over and over again."

"You're insubordinate, Khabat!" snarled Castell.

In an eyeblink, she had stood up from the desk and come around, inches from his face. "That's _Ranger_ Khabat, Ambassador. And need I remind you that foreign affairs falls under the Security Directorate's aegis?" She shoved him into a chair. "We let you clowns in the Ministry of First Contacts flounder around long enough. It's time you understood what exactly our objectives our."

"Our objectives-" Castell had gone pale at Khabat's sudden change in demeanor. He shook his head. "Our objective was to bring Terra into the fold. Make the mammals our allies- subordinate allies, to be sure, but-"

"No," said Khabat. "That was one possible method. The goal is not to become friends with the mammals. The goal is to regain Terra." She poked Castell in the chest. "Failure is not an option, Castell. We've had a good many of your colleagues shot for their incompetence. One more will not make much of a splash."

The ambassador hesitated. "You can't threaten me," he protested weakly.

Khabat sighed and walked to her desk. She opened a drawer and drew out a gun. "Castell, I'm a Ranger. If I decide you're guilty of treason and incompetence, and shoot you right now, the most I'll get is a chewing-out. And considering how we're now this close to being kicked off of Terra for good, I'll actually probably get a commendation."

The ambassador gulped, his eyes on her firearm. "What- what do you suggest?"

She set the gun down on the desk. "It will take years to regain the Terrans' trust," she pointed out. "Unless something moves them into our camp. Time is of the essence, so I think the answer is obvious."

"Is it?" asked Castell. He licked his lips nervously. "I don't understand-"

"We force their hand. Or paw, I suppose." She smiled.

"It's time to give the Drex precisely what they want."

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"And this is where you'll be working," said Pawsley, the cougar in charge of the impound lot.

Hunter looked around the office. No windows, cramped with a desk wedged into one corner and a tiny chair- he guessed it was intended for one of the smaller mammals- taking up most of the space. An old rusted fan turned lazily, seeming to be more for visual effect than anything else. He craned his neck to look at the computer, which had glowing green letters that gave him a headache to look at within seconds. "How old is this computer?"

"Oh, not that old. Maybe twenty years? I hear it was cutting edge technology at the time."

"Yeah," said Hunter, eyeing it. "I imagine the cavemammals thought it was the bee's knees for keeping track of how many fish they caught."

They had just finished a tour of the impound lot, which had essentially consisted of "here are a lot of cars. Try not to lose any of them." The whole place was rather depressing, especially since many of the cars were being held for analysis and evidence retrieval in fatality accidents.

Of course, most of the rest were being held until their owners could pay the various fees and fines they had accumulated. One such owner was in the lobby of the office. Hunter and Pawsley walked in and he greeted them with a slow, wide smile.

"Hello," he said. "You...must...be...the...new," there was a much longer pause. "Officer," the sloth finished.

Pawsley waved. "Hey, Flash. How's it coming?"

"Moving...right...along. Should...be...done...soon."

Pawsley leaned close to Hunter. "That's Flash. He's been trying to get his car out of hock ever since it got impounded about two years ago."

Hunter blinked. "Wow, it took him that long to pay the fines?"

"Oh, he paid the fines right away. He's just been working on the paperwork."

The sloth very slowly turned over the page he was working on.

Hunter and Pawsley watched as the paper rotated, riffling slightly in the drafty office. "A lot of paperwork?" said Hunter eventually.

"Well, sure. This is all property of someone, after all. Need to keep track of things." The cougar seemed to be overjoyed to get an assistant. He slapped Hunter on the back. "So, glad to see some help arrive. I'll let you get settled in, then you can help me with the SR-123 slash Z forms from last year."

"Oh," said Hunter, feeling a bit queasy. "Yeah, that sounds great." He gestured to the door. "I think I'll just step out for some fresh air."

"Fresh air?" said Pawsley doubtfully. "You know this is basically a short step up from a junkyard. It's where the department stores everything that's outlived its usefulness."

Hunter sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is."

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Captain Warren woke up with a start as his phone started ringing. Only long experience with the narrow bunk he slept in aboard ship kept him from hitting his head as he sat up. Blearily, he looked at the phone, finding the number was unlisted. Okay, so it was either the cops or-

"Warren," said a familiar voice. It was his contact with the gun-runners, known to him only as Caleb.

"Yeah," he said warily.

"You were delayed at the spaceport?"

"Yeah, a problem with the ship," he said. "We've got the part now, though, so-"

"New plan," said Caleb. "We have a customer on Alphacen who wants the goods, so you sit tight with what you got. We'll meet you there."

"What about the buyer?" he said, curious. "On Tejias? Won't they be annoyed?"

"They'll be compensated," Caleb assured him. "The organization is doing so now."

"Oh, okay." Warren nodded. "So just hang out here, then?"

The phone clicked off.

"Guess that's a yes," muttered Warren. He hesitated.

After a moment, he swore under his breath and dialed the number the bunny cop had given him.

"Still can't believe I'm doing this," he said to himself.

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Hunter's new apartment was small and cramped. He'd barely managed to keep afloat financially during his suspension, and though he was back on full pay, he couldn't really afford to rent a house like he'd done before. It wasn't the Grand Pangolin Arms, the apartment Judy had first been in, but it was only a short step up.

He put his key in the lock and turned it- and realized the door was already unlocked.

The cop stood stock-still, listening carefully. There was no sound behind the door.

He put one hand on the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he twisted it and threw the door open, his eyes flicking around the room.

And coming to rest on the long-legged human sitting in his chair. His one chair. "Amna?" he said, surprised.

She sat with her legs crossed, arms crossed. "Hunter," she said. "You're late."

He scanned the room, ensuring it was empty, as he stepped inside. "There was extra paperwork," he growled. "For my first day."

"At the impound lot," she said, a grimace distorting her face. "Do they know what kind of talent they're throwing away?"

Hunter hung his jacket on a hook near the door. "It's not like policing back on Alphacen," he said, not looking at Khabat. "It's different here."

"You're different," said Khabat, rising from the chair. "You don't belong here."

He looked at her. "Don't I?"

"You're human," said Khabat. "From a much, much different culture. One that has been struggling to survive for as far back as we can remember. We have different values, different beliefs." She reached out and touched his cheek. "Different needs," she whispered.

He caught her hand, pulled it slowly down- but didn't let go. "It's where I am," he said. "It's where I need to be."

She half-smiled. "Is it, though? Haven't you given enough for them?" She took a step back, looking into his eyes. "They're going to ally with the Drex, Hunter."

"What?" His eyes widened. "They can't."

The ranger shrugged helplessly. "They don't understand what I understand, Hunter. What we humans understand. That survival always takes precedence. That victory is the only option, because defeat is final."

"The Drex will betray them," said Hunter with certainty.

"And why should you be here to pay the price when they do?" asked Khabat.

He looked at her questioningly. "What are you saying, Amna?"

She took his other hand- with surprise, he realized he hadn't let go of her yet. "The human delegation will be leaving soon. I want you to go with us."

He shook his head. "I can't. I have promises to keep-"

"Promises?" She shook her head. "You owe them nothing, Hunter. If anything, they owe you!"

"I was a stranger," said Hunter quietly. "And they took me in."

"And cast you out when it turned out how strange you were to them," said Khabat. She moved closer, their faces almost touching. "I never cast you out, Hunter."

He looked away, ashamed. "I left you."

"Yes," she said. She gently turned his face back to look at her. "But I never stopped loving you."

"Amna-"

She kissed him, and for a moment he was back on Alphacen. Back on that confused, mixed-up world with its confused, mixed-up people. Back with Amna, working nights and coming home to their apartment. They had been strange days- he had still been more-or-less a rookie, with only a few years on the department, and had just gotten through his first few shootings. Amna had been there for him, holding him when he shook, reminding him of where and who he was.

Back where he belonged.

When she broke the kiss, he suddenly realized they had somehow ended up on the bed.

"Amna," he said. "Are you sure-"

She was already tugging at his shirt, and suddenly the scent of her hit him, and he realized he could not leave her again.

Not tonight, at least.

He was lost in her scent, lost in the moment, lost...

Lost.

He hadn't realized he had whispered the word out loud. "You're not lost," whispered Amna, her breath hot on his ear. He felt her mould her body against him, the warmth of her body merging with his own, her heartbeat pounding. She took his face in her palms, her eyes warm as she locked gazes with him. "You're never lost, because I will always find you."

He kissed her, hard. And for the rest of the night, and for the first time since he had lost his family, he felt at peace.

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Tavi slammed down her phone. "Why won't he answer?" she snarled.

She was at her home, having just finished with her shift. Nervously, she paced back and forth.

Hunter hadn't answered any of her texts or calls. Normally, she'd call Nick or Judy for advice- but they were light years away.

She started to pick up the phone again, then turned away. All she wanted was for him to explain himself. To explain why.

Well, and for things to go back to the way they were.

She fell back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.

Hunter was a dangerous mammal, she knew that. But that was to be expected. Even Nick and Judy were dangerous in their own way- not to their friends, but both had gone up against Bellwether, human commandos, and even a tank and come out victors. They didn't look scary, but they were, if you thought about it.

But she tried to imagine Nick or Judy deliberately burning a fellow mammal, just to prove a point, as a warning. The image didn't compute. They'd never have done something like that.

Hunter had. And he'd been convinced it was the right thing to do.

Her thoughts ran in circles. "I need to take my mind off of this," she told herself. She reached for a book she had recently purchased- it was one printed from old human archives, provided as part of the human-Terran cultural exchange program. One that she'd noticed in a bookstore and bought because it had come up several times recently.

 _Frankenstein._ Trying to calm her whirling mind, she opened to the title page.

A second later, the book dropped from her nerveless fingers. "Oh, my God," she breathed.

The door slammed as she raced from her apartment.

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Nick checked his laser- pistol, he supposed, though the chop-shop version Bonaire had given him was only vaguely pistol-shaped. He hoped he could shoot with it, though he doubted he'd be very accurate. Well, it'd probably be at close range, anyway.

He snorted as he noticed the direction of his thoughts. "You know, being a con artist was safer than this," he muttered.

Judy, standing next to him outside the hangar where they were to meet with Liu, gave him a wry look. "Even when you're selling skunk butt rugs to Mr. Big?"

"Okay, most of the time," conceded Nick. He looked at his partner. "You ready?"

She nodded. "FLPD SWAT team is standing by. Shouldn't we be wearing a wire for this?"

"Nope," said Nick. "Too much chance he'd spot it- human detection technology is pretty good, and he's likely got the best. Besides, if this goes well, we won't need a wire."

The door to the hangar bay opened, and a man they didn't recognize stepped out. "Nicholas Wilde? And Judy Hopps?" said the man.

"That's us," said Nick.

"Come with me, please." The man disappeared back into the warehouse.

Judy looked up at Nick. "Well?"

The fox took out his sunglasses and put them on. He smiled down at Judy. "Showtime."


	28. Chapter 27- The Sting

Chapter 27- The Sting

They walked into the hangar, noting a familiar, rust-streaked ship in the center. Liu stood near a pile of boxes, with Captain Warren fidgeting nervously next to him.

"Wilde," said Liu in greeting. "I trust you are well?"

Nick gave him an insouciant smirk. "Doing just dandy, Chamberman. My, what big boxes you have." He walked up to one. "Mind if I inspect it?"

"Not at all," said Liu. "Please, go ahead."

Nick glanced around, noticed a crowbar. Using all his weight, he pried open the box and looked inside. "Parts?" he said, looking at Liu questioningly.

"Some assembly required," said the politician blandly. "But I assure you, everything you asked for is there."

"All right, then," said Nick. He nodded to Judy. "I think that-"

"It's strange, though," said Liu, holding up a hand to stop him. "The items you requested were all on the manifest of a particular ship. Convenient, wouldn't you say?"

"Yep," said Nick. "Very much so. What are the odds?"

"What, indeed, are the odds?" said Liu. He walked closer. "The ship was mysteriously delayed. And after I spoke with Captain Warren, here, I found out the cause of the delay." Warren paled noticeably as Nick and Judy looked at him, their eyes accusing.

Nick instinctively moved closer to Judy, whose paw hovered near her concealed laser. "Delay?" he said, trying to sound innocent.

"Oh, yes," said Liu. "It seems they were raided by some police officers. Including a rabbit and a fox."

"Could be anybody," said Nick.

Liu rolled his eyes. "No, it really, really couldn't." He walked closer to Nick, his eyes slits, staring down at the smaller mammal. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Nick looked up at him. "Do I have to answer that?"

Liu smiled frostily, and turned away. "Ranger Eddington, please come out!" he shouted.

Another man, wearing a hard expression, walked down the ramp of the cargo ship. "Have you heard enough?" asked Liu.

"I have," said the ranger. He turned to look at Nick and Judy. "It seems you were correct. The Terrans are attempting to procure advanced weaponry."

"Demonstrating their lack of good faith," said Liu. He adopted a grave expression and shook his head. "Their need for a guiding hand." He walked closer to Nick and Judy. "You think I wanted to be friends with your planet?" he said, too quietly for the ranger to hear. "That I wanted you as allies?" He shook his head.

"Then why buddy up to us?" asked Nick.

"You were right- the population of Alphacen is inherently stupid," said Liu dismissively. "They like little, cute, fuzzy things. My polls showed a five point increase from that ridiculous little interview you did with me." He smiled. "And now, in your pathetic little attempt to entrap me, I've entrapped you. This will provide just the excuse we need to invade Terra, to bring you under control."

The ranger moved closer. "Mr. Wilde, Ms. Hopps, you're under arrest. You will be taken back to the Terran embassy, to await transport back to Terra."

Nick looked up at Liu. "Huh. Looks like you've won."

"So it does," said Liu smugly.

"Ever play three-card monte, Liu?" asked Nick casually as the ranger moved closer.

Liu frowned, held up a hand, causing Eddington to pause in his approach. "Three-card monte?"

"Find the lady," said Nick. He reached into his pocket, causing Eddington to tense. Giving the ranger an amused look, he slowly withdrew three cards. "Pick a card."

"Is this some sort of game to you?" asked Liu angrily.

"Fine, I'll pick for you. How about a shipment of weapons that can be easily connected to us?" Nick flipped one of the cards. "Hey, you won."

"What-"

"Or an associate that helped us unwillingly, and was-" he looked at Warren, who cringed, "-unreliable at best?" He flipped another card. "Look at that, Liu, you won again."

The human watched him curiously. "Is there a point to this?"

"Finally, giving you a way to make the Terrans look bad, by pretending you were running a sting on us with this arms shipment?" Nick flipped up the last card. "Wow, your luck must be amazing."

Eddington shook his head. "I think that's enough, Mr. Wilde. Whatever that little display was supposed to prove-"

"Didn't prove anything. See, the thing is, this is your shipment," said Nick. "We tracked it using some information we received. Couldn't connect it directly to you, of course. But if you were to, say, make a payment to a certain party on Tejias at the same time as we predicted you would, for the exact price of this shipment- well, that's enough for a warrant." Nick smiled, showing his teeth. "Carrots? Would you care to call in the SWAT team?"

Judy put a whistle to her mouth and blew. At the shrill sound, the doors flew open and nearly a dozen heavily armed FLPD officers stormed inside. Leading them was Wu, followed closely by Barker. Wu walked up to Liu as Warren was shoved to the ground and cuffed. Eddington backed up, displaying his Security Directorate identification. He was nevertheless quickly disarmed.

"Chamberman Liu, you are under arrest for illegal transportation of arms, money-laundering and treason," said Wu.

Liu backed up a step. "What? These weapons are not mine-"

"You paid for them," said Judy. "And that got us a warrant to examine all your financials. You've been a very bad boy, Liu."

"I-" he tried to step back again, only to bump up against a SWAT officer. The officer quickly pinioned his arms behind him and there was the sharp snick of handcuffs closing. "You can't do this to me! I am a member of the Chamber-"

"That's true. And you have certain rights," said Wu. "Such as the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will-" He continued as they led Liu from the hangar.

Judy looked at Nick. "So, one question. What did this scam have to do with three-card monte?"

"Three card monte doesn't work anymore," said Nick dismissively. "Everyone knows the con by now." He grinned at her. "Even dumb bunnies."

She elbowed him. "Okay, so it doesn't work..."

"Not as the con," said Nick. "But as a distraction- see, you don't take the mark at the card trick. The mark has it all figured out- he knows you let him win the first round to hook him, so he decides to bet on that one and walk away. So he takes out his wallet and slaps down the money."

"Right, like Liu buying back the shipment to give to us. Okay," said Judy, nodding. "And then-"

"Then your accomplice, seeing where he keeps his wallet, picks his pocket. And that's how you beat someone at three card monte when they already know how the game goes." Nick shrugged. "It helps if they underestimate you, of course. And Liu clearly doesn't have a high opinion of our abilities."

"So do you think he knows who Prometheus is?"

Nick's expression became very thoughtful. "Actually, Carrots, I think he does. There's something he said a while back, when we first met. About 'Terrans being the natural allies against the terrors of the stars.'"

Judy frowned in thought. "That phrase sounds familiar. Not something I was told directly, I don't think-"

"But part of a conversation someone else recounted to us?" said Nick. "Exactly."

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"Hunter, there's someone at the door," said Khabat, shaking him awake.

He blinked, looking up at her and slowly becoming aware of the rapid-fire taps at his door. He groaned as he recognized Tavi's distinctive knock. "Oh, shit," he muttered.

"What?" said Khabat. She was wearing one of his shirts, he noticed, and was looking substantially better in it than he generally did. It even seemed less wrinkled. She turned to her discarded pants and pulled a small hold-out pistol from the inner waistband.

Hunter frowned at that. "You're not supposed to be carrying," he said accusingly.

"C'mon, Zach, what are you going to do, arrest me? There's Drex on the planet. I'm not going unarmed." She put one hand on her hip and gave him a smile.

Hunter sat up and pulled on his pants. "Just- just keep that hidden away. That's Tavi at the door. She always knocks like a cocaine addict at his dealer's door." The tapping continued throughout their conversation. It was getting annoying. Hunter trudged over to the door and opened it a crack. "Tavi?"

She looked up at him, her eyes widening when she saw he was shirtless. "Did I wake you up?"

He squinted down at her. "It's five in the morning. That's a reasonable assumption."

"Sorry," she said. Suddenly her ears came to points and she sniffed the air curiously. Curiously, then suspiciously. "Zach," she said slowly. "Why do you smell like perfume?"

"Um." He hesitated, cursing the mammals' superior sense of smell. "Would you believe it's a new cologne?"

"And not just any perfume," she continued, still sniffing. "That smells like-" She suddenly shoved past him into his one-bedroom apartment.

The mongoose stopped as she saw Khabat, still dressed only in Hunter's old shirt, sitting on the bed. The ranger smiled. "Hey, Tavi."

The mongoose's eyes widened, then narrowed. Her tail suddenly puffed out. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"Tavi!" said Hunter, a bit shocked at her sudden hostility. "What's-"

"I think it's pretty clear what I'm doing here," said Khabat calmly. "Or rather, what I've done here."

Tavi made a weird chattering noise before stopping it with an effort. She hopped to one side, apparently unconsciously, before spinning around on Hunter. "Aren't you wanted for murder by them, Zach?" she demanded, pointing to Khabat. "I know you can be reckless sometimes, but literally sleeping with the enemy?"

He frowned. "Now just wait one damn minute, rookie. First of all, I've been pardoned- got the official document and everything. And second, she's not the enemy."

"And you believe them?" demanded Tavi. "When they said you were pardoned?" She shook her head. "They killed your children, Hunter!"

Hunter had been keeping his temper under control- assisted by his shock at seeing his usually cheerful rookie so angry- but that was too far. "You think I don't know that, Tavi?" He advanced on her, but she stood her ground, paws on her hips, craning her head to stare at him fiercely. "I can't blame all humans for what happened to my family!"

"No, but she works for the government that did it!"

"So did I!" shouted Hunter. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. A little more controlled, he spoke again. "This isn't about that, Tavi. Is it?"

Tavi wavered, backing a few steps. "What do you mean?"

"He means," said Khabat, who had been watching the confrontation intently, "That you have a little crush on him. That what we're seeing from you isn't concern, but jealousy."

Tavi looked at her, her eyes wide with shock. "No, I-"

Khabat stood. "It's obvious, really. I'm not surprised Zach failed to see it- he can be an idiot sometimes when it comes to interpersonal relationships- but it's pretty clear from the way you look at him, the way you try to look after him." She shook her head. "I saw it from the first time I saw you two together. But you had to know it could never work."

Tavi's ears drooped, and her voice was a whisper. "I know."

Khabat knelt down next to her. "He's your friend, Tavi, and he always will be. But that's all he can be. He belongs with his own kind." She looked up at Hunter, and he saw the love in her eyes. The love he had betrayed once, long ago.

It made him happy- and ashamed. He looked away.

Khabat looked back at Tavi, meeting her eyes. "He belongs with me."

The little mongoose's eyes filled with tears. "This is his home, now," she said, her voice low, choked with emotion. "It's where his friends are." She looked at Hunter, her eyes pleading. "Tell her, Zach."

He rubbed his face with one hand. "It's not so simple, Anila."

"What?" Tavi's face froze in shock. "What do you mean?"

"The human delegation is leaving the planet," said Khabat. "We can't stay here if the Drex are going to be on the planet. Hunter is going with me."

"No!" cried Tavi. "Zach, you can't!"

"It's too dangerous for me," said Hunter, not meeting her eyes. "The Drex are going to be after me, Tavi."

"And since when has that stopped you?" she demanded. "Since when have you decided to run away from a threat?"

"Since I realized I had something to live for!" he shot back, his temper rising again.

"And we weren't enough?" whispered Tavi. " _I_ wasn't enough?"

That stopped him cold. "Tavi-" He couldn't go on.

She waited for his response, slowly nodded when it was clear he didn't have one. "I think I see," she said. "I think I understand perfectly."

Khabat stood, taking Hunter's arm possessively. "I think you do, Ms. Tavi."

Tavi's back straightened, taking her to her full three feet height. "It's Officer Tavi, Ranger Khabat." She looked at Hunter. "Officer Hunter, I apologize for disturbing you." She turned to walk out the door.

"Rookie, wait-"

"I'm not your rookie anymore," said Tavi, not looking back at him.

She slammed the door behind her.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick and Judy sat down across from Liu in the interrogation room. It was a classic interrogation room, complete with one-way glass- which in Nick and Judy's experience, was generally an invention of cop shows.

Apparently whoever had designed the building had watched quite a few of them, as even the light was simply a bare bulb hanging over the table. Judy, with an effort, set a fat folder on the table between them and Liu.

"So, treason," began Judy conversationally. "Let's start with that."

"I have nothing to say to you," said Liu.

"You transported arms to groups rebelling against your allies," continued Judy, ignoring him. "That's treason under Alphacen law." She looked at Nick. "Penalty?"

"Death by hanging," said Nick.

"Multiple counts of illegal arms dealing," said Judy, flipping over a page. "As in, lots and lots of illegal arms dealing. Penalty, Nick?"

"Death by firing squad," said the fox.

"And money-laundering, including some connected to the notorious Hamilton cartel." The bunny looked at Nick. "Penalty?"

"Death by beheading. Which seems pretty extreme."

"Apparently the cartel likes to use beheading as a punishment, and the humans believe in fighting fire with fire," said Judy. "So right now, Liu, you're looking at being hanged, shot, and beheaded. And I think they might fine you as well, which just seems cruel."

Liu's eye twitched slightly, but otherwise he showed no signs of cracking. "I have nothing to say to you," he repeated dully.

"Maybe you think you'll get out of this," said Nick, leaning back in his chair. "That your friends in the Expansionist Party will help you."

Judy held up her phone. "Hey, look, the news is on."

"This is Michael Bairnes, reporting live from the capital. I'm here with Avenford Raines, the current Expansionist Party leader after the arrest of Lin Tu Liu. Mr. Raines, would you care to comment on this arrest?"

Raines had a somber expression. "Chamberman Liu, as we know, was considered a valuable member of the Party. But he is in fact a reminder that even those we think we know, we think we trust, can betray us. The Expansionist Party is dedicated to humanity, not to those who would trade with our enemies and sell us out to drug cartels and terrorists. We will seek the highest penalty for Mr. Liu, as a way of restoring the people's trust in our integrity and honor."

Judy clicked off the phone. "It's got something like twenty million views," she said. "And climbing."

For a moment, Liu just stared at them, then he sighed. "What are you offering?"

"A deal," said Nick. "You give us information, and we can get the death penalty off the table."

"Really?" Liu cocked his head. "You two can do that? You're not even police officers on Alphacen."

"No, but we helped them." Nick took a piece of paper from the folder, slid it over to Liu. "That's the deal we can offer. The First Landing DA's office won't prosecute to the full extent of the law if you cooperate."

He read over the paper carefully, then looked up. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know about Prometheus," said Nick.

"Prometheus?" repeated Liu. He smiled slowly. "What an interesting name."

"Uh-huh. Did you pick it yourself, or did someone else suggest it?" asked Nick.

Liu's face froze. "What?"

"You used a phrase when we first met," said Nick. "That the Terrans were humanity's natural allies against the terrors of the stars, if I remember correctly."

"Prometheus used the same phrase to Hunter after he killed Lucas," said Judy. "The exact same phrase."

"And Lucas was being protected- and enabled- by Prometheus," continued Nick. "The resources he used, the cures that maniac developed- all taken from your company. You even patented the process to cure schizophrenia."

"So," said Judy, leaning on the table to peer intently into Liu's eyes. "What's your game?"

Liu looked at both of them, his eyes darting back and forth between them. He pushed back his chair. Both Nick and Judy shot to their feet.

Liu laughed. "You think I'm- you think I'm Prometheus?" he said, between guffaws.

"You're not?" said Nick, disappointed.

"Of course not," said Liu. "Though I admit I was working with him. Or her. I never saw the man." He shook his head, amused. "He contacted me. Offered me several benefits for working with him."

"Benefits?"

"Oh, yes. Immortality, for one. It so happened I had Lucas on the payroll, and provided his services to Prometheus when he requested a scientist with, shall we say, a loose moral code?" Liu shook his head. "It's a shame that project failed. You'd have never been able to touch me if I'd been the man who could sell immortality."

Nick and Judy shared a disgusted glance. "Then who is Prometheus?" demanded Nick. "How did you come into contact with him?"

"Through a drone sent here to Alphacen," said Liu. "Through a wormhole."

"Wormhole? Sent from where?"

"You don't get it?" said Liu contemptuously. "Ever wonder how the wormhole to Terra got opened, Wilde? It wasn't opened from our side."

Judy's eyes became wide. "You're saying-"

"Prometheus isn't here on Alphacen," said Liu. "He's on Terra. And he always has been. He's the one who opened the wormhole to the Human Stars. And all of this- everything that's happened- has been part of his plan."

 _Author's Note: So I'm writing romantic scenes- well, sort of- involving a human and mongoose. I did not expect to ever be doing that, in case you're wondering. You can thank Erinnyes for this, by the way- he convinced me that it was possible. It's all practice, I keep telling myself._

 _It should be noted that Tavi is a fair amount larger than mongooses would be- this is because I've decided that the process which anthropomorphized mammals also tended (not in evety case, but in many) to make them slightly closer to human sizes (larger become smaller, smaller become larger). I based this on the movie, where quite a few mammals don't seem to be as large or small as they would actually be in relation to one another. It also makes a certain amount of sense- some degree of resizing would be expected in an uplift scenario._

 _Finally, Tavi's reactions- bottle-brushing of her tail, the chittering noise she made, and hopping from side to side- are all part of the "weasel war dance", seen when ferrets, mongoosen, and the like are in a playful or hostile mood. It has been observed when they are attacking prey, though most of the time pet owners will see it when they are playing._

 _By the way, I am naturally playing very fast and loose with policing- Nick and Judy obviously have no jurisdiction and wouldn't be allowed within a country mile of an investigation. But the dramatic effect is higher this way, so...artistic license._


	29. Chapter 28-Endgame

Chapter 28- Endgame

"It's not possible," said Nick.

They were sitting in their hotel room once again. Liu had given them more details, which had corroborated his story.

Liu's criminal background went much further back than his cooperation with Prometheus. In addition to the promise of immortality- which he hadn't been able to keep, presumably because Lucas had been stopped- he had provided other things.

Knowledge, mostly. Medicines. Improvements to nanites. Technological advances for weapons, manufacturing, communications, software improvements to artificial intelligences. Nothing game-changing- but all enough to make Liu a lot of money both legally and illegally. Enough to get one of the most powerful men on Alphacen in Prometheus's pocket.

And Liu had strongly implied that he was not the only one.

"It's not possible," repeated Nick. He was sitting on the recliner, frowning as he went through a copy of Liu's statement. "No mammal on Terra has access to this sort of technology. It's ahead of what the humans have- let alone what we have."

"I don't think he's lying, Nick," said Judy. She was re-reading the documents herself. "All these patents that he said came through Prometheus happened after the wormhole was opened and contact established with the humans."

Nick tossed the documents to one side and hopped out of the recliner. He began to pace. "Then what does it mean?"

"It means-" Judy hesitated. "It means we need to go back to Terra. To Zootopia."

The door opened and Barker, looking very grim, walked in. She stopped when she saw them. "You two don't look happy," she commented. "I take it you heard?"

"Heard what?" asked Nick.

"It's official- we've been recalled. Our old friend the _Nike_ is coming to take us back to Terra, and then take the human delegation away." She shook her head. "Taking down Liu may have been a mistake. The human politicians are falling over themselves in public to heap praise on us, but in private they're all afraid they'll be next. They want us out of here as soon as possible."

"How long have we got?" asked Judy.

"Let me put it this way," said Barker. "You better get packed right now."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick watched the shuttle slowly, gingerly move towards the landing pad, then pause, then move up a bit. It shifted slightly to the right, yawed, and finally started to settle- before settling hard enough to shake the ground beneath their feet slightly.

"That was not a good landing," said Wu, who was watching with them. He was studiously ignoring Barker, who kept shooting him glares. Nick had been watching the interplay between them curiously- he'd walked out of the hotel room to find them like that. Whatever was going on, neither seemed prepared to let it go.

"Must have let the rookie pilot take the shuttle today," suggested Judy.

"How reassuring," murmured Nick. "We're someone's training mission."

The shuttle bay door opened and a familiar figure stepped out. Bonaire's eyes lit up when she saw the group. "Hustler! Judy! Good to see you guys again!" She smiled and waved as she approached. "Did the lasers I gave you come in handy?"

"Surprisingly, not very much," said Judy, smiling up at the human. "But we appreciated it anyway." 

"Saw on the news that you arrested a politician," said Bonaire approvingly. "It's too bad you aren't staying longer." She gave them a shrewd look. "Or is that why you're not staying longer?"

"No," said Nick with a straight face. "We just hit our bag limit for crooked politicians. We'll be back next season."

Bonaire grinned. "Well, come on. The captain's in a suprisingly good mood, but that won't last if we linger too long."

They followed her onto the shuttle. "I won't be your pilot today," said Bonaire. "That honor belongs to Midshipman Ulrich. Say hello, Ulrich."

"Hello!" shouted a voice from the flight desk.

"Use the cabin address, midshipman!" shouted Bonaire.

There was a pause, then a chime from the cabin's intercom. "Hello," said Ulrich.

"Good job," said Bonaire. "That proves you know what at least one of those buttons do up there." She leaned towards Nick. "He's not a very good pilot," she confided.

Nick frowned. "You realize we're the passengers, right?"

"Oh, don't worry, he'll probably get better. Maybe before he crashes. Space is big, there's not that much to hit up there." She started to walk towards the flight deck, then paused, frowning. "Hang on a sec. Sergeant, aren't you leaving?"

Nick and Judy turned to see Wu sitting down next to Barker, who had her arms crossed. "Yes," said Wu, settling into his seat. "I am leaving." He smiled at Bonaire. "We all are."

"What?" said Judy, surprised.

"So I talked to the chief, and he said that after our little joint operation went so well, we should have more than one liaison officer with ZPD. Especially since that one is Zacharias Hunter." He put his arm around Barker's shoulders, who gave him an irritated glance. "So I'm going with you guys. Bogo's on board- he seems to think I'll be able to help keep Hunter under control."

"Will you?" asked Nick curiously.

Wu snorted. "No."

"Ruth," said Judy hesitantly. "Um, shouldn't you be, well, happier about this?"

"Louis is an idiot," she said crisply.

"She thinks it will be dangerous for me," said Wu.

"It will," said Barker.

"Because of the Drex?" asked Bonaire. "They're not too bad. You just have to shoot them in the head. Twice if they keep twitching."

Barker winced and stood up. "Humans," she announced. "Are crazy." She stood up and walked into the small restroom in the back of the shuttle.

Bonaire shrugged. "Yep," she said. "We are. Speaking of which-" she turned to face the flight deck. "You ready to fly, Midshipman?"

"Yes, ma'am!" shouted Ulrich.

"Then get to it!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

There was a long pause. "Well?" demanded Bonaire. "Did you forget where the throttle was again?"

There was a longer pause. "No," said Ulrich unconvincingly.

Bonaire sighed. "Make sure to fasten the seat-belts," she told Nick and Judy as she made her way to the flight deck.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter was sitting in his cramped office at the impound lot, feet up on his desk, idly watching the slowly spinning fan.

Pawsley poked his head into the room. "Did you finish filling out the SR-926 forms?"

"Nope," said Hunter.

"I told you to get those done by today," said the cougar angrily.

"Uh-huh." Hunter yawned. "I've been busy."

"Busy?" Pawsley stalked into the room and glared at him. "You haven't done any work since you got here!"

"Hey, Pawsley, you want to see something interesting?" Hunter pulled out his phone and started tapping at it, loading up Zootube.

"Mr. Hunter, if you think you can just come in here and take up this office without doing a lick of work, then you- stop playing on your phone and pay attention to-" Pawsley stopped as Hunter turned the phone to face him.

On the screen, Hunter was astride Octavius, fist pounding his face over and over, blood spattering. Pawsley's eyes grew wider with each blow.

"That's why I'm here," said Hunter conversationally. "And that's why I'm not going to be here for much longer. So you can take your SR-926 forms and shove them up-"

There was a tentative knock at the door. As both mammals looked up, there was- eventually- a second knock.

"Flash?" said Pawsley, gratitude at the interruption clearly evident in his voice. "What is it?"

"I've...finished," said the sloth. He held up a stack of forms.

"You have?" said Pawsley, shocked. "Well, Mr. Hunter can help you-"

Hunter raised the volume. There was a sizzling sound and a scream from the phone.

"On second thought," said Pawsley, his ears twitching nervously, "I'll just help you with that-" He ushered Flash out and slammed the door behind them.

Hunter sighed and closed the video app on his phone. After hesitating a long moment, he dialed a number.

The phone rang repeatedly, then- "Hello, you've reached Anila's phone! Please leave a message-"

Hunter hung up. He drummed his fingers on the desk. Dialed again.

"Hello, you've reached-"

He swore and hung up again.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

This time round, Nick and Judy's trip was much less eventful.

Bonaire seemed overjoyed to spend more time with them- the energetic blonde seemed to have really taken a shine to the two policemammals. She took Nick on two quick flights- thankfully without any combat, though Judy had to hide her nervousness both times- and showed him how to work the flight simulator. The fox seemed to have a natural talent for flying, and spent hours in the simulator bay, to the point that Bonaire complimented him on his progress. "Maybe when this whole Drex nonsense gets sorted out we can make a real pilot out of you," she told him.

Barker and Wu spent most of their time arguing- at least, Judy thought so, until she realized that when they weren't arguing, they tended to be in their quarters- that is to say, both of them in the same room. Her ears were natural for eavesdropping, and she was slightly surprised to find that most of the ship's crew was fairly open-minded about the whole thing. Perhaps it was a Fleet thing, she supposed.

Or perhaps they had more important things on their mind. The ship was full of speculation- the consensus was that the Human Stars would be back at a full-fledged war with the Drex in the near future, though the timeframe and reason were up for grabs. Most tended towards "soon" and "Terra" as the answer to those two questions. It tended to put Judy on edge- she'd never imagined herself in the middle of a war. It just didn't seem possible.

Her own time was spent mostly on reading up on the promotional exam, or- strangely enough- spending time with the Marines of Foxtrot Company. They seemed almost pathetically pleased to have her visit- they seemed to have adopted her as a sort of mascot, or something. Which ordinarily would have annoyed her- it was one step away from being called "cute"- but she just didn't have the heart to challenge them on it. And since she had shot a Karathi in the brief battle from the previous voyage, she was given a fair amount of respect, as well.

There was one strange incident, however. One night, as Nick was collapsing into bed after having spent a truly heroic amount of time in the simulator, she was interrupted in her study of ZPD's regulations (a complete knowledge of which was required for the promotional exam) by the room's AI.

"Message for Ms. Hopps," said the AI.

She glanced up, expecting it to be from Gunny Sadowski, or perhaps Bonaire. "Go ahead."

"Message from Captain Oakes. Ms. Hopps. I apologize for the lateness of the hour, but if you are not otherwise engaged I would like the pleasure of your company on the bridge for a few moments if convenient. Message ends."

Her eyebrows climbed her forehead. Captain Oakes? Wanting to see her? He hadn't even welcomed them aboard, leaving that to the Executive Officer, Tosetti. She half-considered ignoring the "invitation", but reluctantly decided that tact required her to answer. "Please tell the captain that I shall be there directly."

"Acknowledged."

She decided that, as she was going to the bridge, a certain formality would be required. She quickly dressed in her uniform and, stopping only to kiss her now-sleeping fox on the cheek, made her way to the bridge.

The marines- two of them, she noted- guarding the bridge nodded respectfully at her. They weren't Foxtrot Company, but the ship's marines in general appeared to share that unit's good opinion of her. The door slid open and she stepped onto the bridge of the _Nike_.

Oakes was sitting in the command chair. Hearing the door slide open, he looked up, his expression unreadable. "Ms. Hopps. Thank you for accepting my invitation- again, I do apologize for the lateness of the hour. I fear I have been quite busy these past few days."

Trying not to let her nervousness show- she was a bit overawed by the obvious technological sophistication on display in the monitors and control panels she could see- she walked up to him. "No apology necessary, Captain. I am happy to be of service." She kept her tone polite, but noncommittal.

He swiveled the chair to face her. "Would you like to have a seat, Ms. Hopps?" He gestured to a chair set into the wall across from him.

"No, thank you." She kept watching him carefully- he'd been curt with them at best, and belligerent at worst. She wasn't about to relax in his presence so easily.

But for once, he seemed ill at ease. "Ms. Hopps, I read about your operation on Alphacen. Arresting Chamberman Liu."

"He was a criminal. I'm a cop." She shrugged. "It's what I do."

"Yes," he said. He looked up at the ceiling, avoiding her eyes. "A number of my fellow officers were executed as a result of the Terran operation." He hesitated. "Not all of them deserved it." His voice was still calm, collected, nothing to show he was talking about the deaths of innocent men and women.

Judy wasn't sure how to respond. "I'm sorry," she finally said. "Maybe there will be some justice for their families, at least, now that the true mastermind of that operation has been arrested."

"Yes," said Oakes. "Maybe there will. And I've you- and your partner, Mr. Wilde- to thank for it, it seems." He stood up, clasping his hands together behind his back, and turned away, studying the bridge crew as they worked quietly at their stations. "It is no secret that I was nearly one of those officers who were made into examples."

Judy just watched him curiously. What was he getting at, exactly?

"I think a great many humans underestimate the Terrans," he said finally, turning back to face her. "Think of you as a joke. A pet that has learned to talk, almost. But I've seen you make friends with my crew, gain the respect of Marines- which is no small matter- and comport yourselves both professionally and ethically. I fear I may have done you a disservice."

Judy blinked. "Are you apologizing? Is that what this is?"

The captain looked thoughtful, then nodded. "I suppose it is. I'm sorry, Ms. Hopps. I regret most extremely any disrespect I may have shown to you."

She stood up and walked closer to him, craning her neck to look up at the much taller human. "You realize that there is every chance that in the near future we will be at war?" she said, keeping her voice level.

He nodded seriously. "As much as I regret that, it is to be expected if your people ally themselves with the Drex."

"Why?" she asked pointedly. "Why, if humans are so willing to be our friends- and from what I've seen, most are- should we have to go to war?"

"Because of your choice of friends, Ms. Hopps," he said, as if it were obvious. "The Drex are, well, evil."

"I don't believe any sentient being- any truly sapient being- is automatically evil," said Judy. "They may have an evil government, they may be doing evil things- but any mammal can be anything they want to be. It's free will."

Oakes smiled sadly at her. "Would that it were so. You haven't had our experience, though, Ms. Hopps." He held up a hand, forestalling her objection. "I know, I know, I just apologized for my condescenscion. But you must admit we have more experience. We've been out here for millenia, alone against the black. We know our enemies- we know them like we know ourselves. The Drex are irredeemable."

"Once, long ago," said Judy, "The same was said about the predatory species. In fact, not so long ago some mammals were still saying it. It doesn't make it so." She cocked her head, thinking. "I suspect many might say it about humans. But you do want friends, don't you? I've never thought about what it must be like, being the only ones of your species in the galaxy- at least, the only ones you haven't been at war with."

Oakes barked a laugh. "Is that what you think our problem is, Ms. Hopps? We're lonely?" For a moment, his old superior tone was back, and Judy stiffened.

He saw her reaction. "Ms. Hopps, I think that you might-"

"Perhaps I had better go," she said stiffly. "It's late." She turned to walk off the bridge, having no interest in hearing another long lecture on the naivety of mammals-

As the door slid open, he spoke again.

He was regarding her thoughtfully. "I was going to say, Ms. Hopps, that you might be absolutely right."

She turned in surprise, but the door closed before she could say anything else.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was official. Tavi was avoiding Hunter. Over the next week- his last on Terra, it seemed- he tried to catch her on patrol, at the station, at the garage- but somehow, she was never where he expected her to be.

He'd tried to enlist help from the other ZPD officers, but so far it seemed that not only did they all know about Tavi's anger at him, but they also all took her side.

"Come on, Clawhauser," he said to the cheetah. "I've got half a dozen donuts for you if you just have her come to the station."

The usually friendly cheetah just sniffed and continued tapping away at his computer.

"I know you're not working, Benjamin, so stop ignoring me."

The cheetah looked up, the frown he wore contrasting strangely with his open face. "Why should I, Hunter? You're leaving in a day or two anyway, aren't you?"

"It's for my own safety, Benjamin, the Drex are going to be after me and now that they're being invited onto the planet-"

"And whose fault is that?" asked the cheetah. He turned back to the computer with an air of finality. As he did, his eyes fell on a book. "Wait a minute, there was one thing Tavi wanted you to have before you left."

"There is?" said Hunter. "What?"

Clawhauser handed him the book. "Here. Tavi told me to give it to you the next time I see you."

As Hunter, puzzled, took the book, Clawhauser deftly snagged the box of donuts he had set down on the desk. Hunter didn't seem to notice. "Frankenstein?" He looked up at the cheetah. His eyes narrowed as he saw Clawhauser taking a donut out of the box. "Hey! You were only supposed to take those if you accepted my bribe!"

"Bribing a law enforcement officer is a serious offense," said Clawhauser through a mouthful of donut. "So I figured it must be a gift."

Hunter frowned, but let it go. "Look, did she say why she wanted me to have this book?"

Clawhauser shrugged. "I think she said she highlighted something in it. Don't ask me why."

With a sigh, Hunter flipped open the book. Almost immediately, he saw the title page had a section highlighted. " _Frankenstein_ ," he read. " _Or, the Modern Prometheus_..." He trailed off.

"Prometheus?" asked Clawhauser, interested despite himself. "Isn't that something to do with that case-" He looked up from the computer. "Hey, where'd you go?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi poked her head around the corner, seeing Hunter had left without seeing her.

She felt a large presence behind her, and turned to see Francine crouched down, also peering around the corner. The elephant noticed her gaze. "What are we hiding from?" whispered Francine. "Is Bogo on a rampage again?"

"No, it's Hunter," said Tavi. "I'm avoiding him."

"You are?" said Francine, surprised. "Why?"

"Because-" the mongoose stopped. "It's complicated."

Francine straightened up, looking down at her smaller colleague. "It usually is. Is this about what happened on the roof with the Drex?"

"Yes," said Tavi. She looked down. "And no," she said, more softly.

"Oh, well, glad that's cleared up." The elephant started to walk off, then paused. She looked back at Tavi. "He did what he felt he had to, Tavi. I mean, I'll grant you that it was pretty vicious- but he's been dealing with some pretty vicious mammals recently."

"Yeah, but-"

"He lost his family, Tavi," said Francine. "And I don't think anyone doesn't know that he considers you- and Nick, and Judy- his second family. He's afraid of losing you again."

The epiphany struck her like a lightning bolt. Hunter had put himself on the line to fight that Drex. He must have known that he could have been seriously injured, even killed, but had gone out with a plan that may or may not have worked. He'd lost control, to some extent, but everything he'd done was in order to protect those who were close to him. After being unable to protect his family once, he was determined not to do it again.

And she'd abandoned him. Left him when he needed her most.

She stared at Francine, then her eyes slowly widened. "Oh, no. What have I done?"

Francine stared after her as she ran out the door, calling for Hunter.

"Rookies," she said to herself. "Never do quite understand them."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

He didn't know where Tavi was, but he knew where someone else who he could talk to- the only person who seemed willing to hear him out- would be.

Hunter still decided to call her. Before he did, he noticed the email he had gotten from Judy.

"Prometheus is on Terra," he read. "No kidding. I had sort of figured that out, now."

Frankenstein's monster. The Modern Prometheus's monster. Pandora hadn't been designed by the Drex- she was designed by the same person who had made the Drex. It made much more sense in one respect- if the Drex had that sort of capability for genetic engineering, why hadn't they shown it before? Why start with a Terran mammal?

What didn't make sense was that the man who genetically engineered the Drex would be tens of thousands of years old. But if he could modify genetic code to make a new species of human, why couldn't he make himself immortal?

Though- Lucas had said he was searching for a means to create immortality. Why search for something you already had?

It didn't quite fit. But it was close enough.

He dialed Khabat. "Khabat," she answered.

"Amna," he said with relief. "I think I just figured something out. Where are you?"

There was a pause. "At the spaceport, getting things ready to leave. Why? What have you figured out?" There was a noticeable sense of urgency in her tone.

"Something about Prometheus," he said. "I'll meet you there."

As he drove he started to dial Tavi, but then stopped. She hadn't been answering- but perhaps a voicemail- no.

Leaving the number dialed, he shoved the cell phone back in his pocket.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi was just about to call Hunter on his cell phone- he had already disappeared- when she felt a paw on her shoulder.

"What?" she snapped, spinning around on the paw's owner.

Scruggs backed up when he saw her fangs exposed. "Whoa, easy, rookie. Look, there's an emergency."

"Yes, I know- I can't find Hunter-"

The ocelot blinked. "Hunter? I'm talking about Shepherd."

"What about Shepherd?" asked Tavi distractedly, still scanning the crowd outside the police station.

"He's gone missing."

Tavi turned to stare at Scruggs. "Missing? A twenty-eight ton tank?"

Scruggs winced. "Don't remind me. I keep imagining the phrase 'lost a flying robotic tank' on my next performance evaluation."

Tavi shook her head as if clearing it. "I don't have time for this," she said.

"You don't have time for this? What's more important than a missing battle tank?"

She paused as she was walking off, looked back at Scruggs. "Family."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

There were only humans at the spaceport when he arrived. They were loading up the shuttle that would take them to the _Nike_ when she arrived, which should be within the day. Hunter jumped out of the cab and dashed to the spaceport's capacious lobby.

Amna was already there, tapping her foot anxiously. He glanced around, noting embassy staff hurrying to and fro. There was a sense of anticipation, of anxiety. "Amna?"

"Zach," she said with relief. "I've got a lot going on. Let's walk and talk." He hurried to match her pace as she led him towards one of the gates.

"Prometheus," he explained. "Nick and Judy got Liu. He said Prometheus contacted him _from_ Terra."

"So Prometheus is a mammal? A Terran?" asked Khabat.

"No, I don't think so. Think about it- how did the wormhole reopen? We've assumed it was someone from our side, but no one has that technology anymore, right? Otherwise we'd be opening wormholes left and right." Hunter held up the book Tavi had left with Clawhauser.

Khabat gave it a cursory look. "Frankenstein?"

"The modern Prometheus. Amna, Prometheus is a human. He's not only a human, he's the human who created the Drex. And- oh, my God." Hunter stopped. Khabat did, too, looking at him curiously.

"The Drex have been around for how long?" asked Hunter.

She shrugged. "Millenia. No one really knows."

"Since the collapse of United Terra, right?"

"Sure, it was probably one of the factors that led to the collapse? So?" She started walking again.

Hunter followed her. They walked through the departure gate, onto the broad, open tarmac of the spaceport. "So? That's the same sort of timeframe- vague, I know- as when the Terran mammals were created. And if you have one evil genius who created a new human sub-species, than why postulate another that uplifted mammals? Why couldn't it have been the same one?"

"That's far-fetched," noted Khabat.

"But it fits. And the things he said- I think that he created mammals to be a, a slave species or something like that, for humans. Natural allies, he said. He says he wants what's best for humanity, after all."

Khabat stopped and looked at him. "Then why create the Drex?"

"Trying to improve the human race. This guy wants to make humans superior in every way- and he started with the Drex." Hunter shook his head. "I'm speculating wildly, here, Amna, but at least one thing is certain. Prometheus is here on Terra."

"Then all the more reason for you to be off Terra," said Khabat. "As soon as possible."

He hesitated, then slowly shook his head. "I can't, Amna. If Prometheus is here- then my friends are in danger when they come back. I've got to stay here and help them."

"Zach-"

"I'm sorry, Amna. You could stay if you want, though." He smiled at her. "I could use the help."

She stood, giving him a strange, searching look. "You're right, Zach. This is all very speculative."

"Yeah, but-" For the first time, he looked around. "Hey, there's no one else out here. What are you doing here?" Other than a large pile of crates covered with a tarp, the tarmac was empty.

"Very speculative." She shook her head, almost sadly. "It's a shame you're so nearly correct." She raised her voice. "Shepherd? Take custody of Officer Hunter."

He took a step back. "What?"

"Order acknowledged," said a familiar, robotic voice. He turned to see the pile of "crates" he had seen rise, shaking off the tarp, revealing a King Cobra Light Battle Tank. "Engaging."

"Shepherd?" said Hunter. He looked at Khabat. "What is this?"

"I'm keeping you safe, Zach," she said. "The only way I know how."

His expression hardened. "I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't." She looked at the tank. "Carry out your orders."

The tank rushed towards Hunter, and before he could move he felt the cold metal of Shepherd's manipulator arms pin his arms against his side. He struggled uselessly. One hand was near the pocket of his pants, where his cell phone was. He brushed the phone, felt it vibrate as it turned on. Working by memory, he hit the "Send" button- or, at least, where he thought the "Send" button would be. Damned touchscreen phones-

When he looked at her again, she had a syringe at the ready. "I love you, Zach. I'm not going to let you throw your life away for some damned animals. Besides, we've got bigger plans for you."

"We? Amna, this doesn't make any sense. Where are you taking me?"

She plunged the syringe into his arm, and his vision swam, tilted, faded to black.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi's phone rang, and she snatched it from the clip on her belt with lightning speed. She hit "Accept Call" as soon as she saw Hunter's unsmiling face appear on the screen.

"Zach! Where are-"

"-love you, Zach." She stiffened as she heard Khabat's voice, somewhat muffled as if from a distance. "I'm not going to let you throw your life away for some damned animals."

Tavi scowled. What were they talking about? Had Hunter accidentally dialed her? The anger she had felt before started to simmer again, until she heard the next words.

"We've got bigger plans for you."

"We?" Hunter's voice was strained, and higher in pitch than normal. She narrowed his eyes- he sounded as if he were being restrained. "Amna, this doesn't make any sense. Where are you taking me?"

She heard him grunt, then- "You lured me to the spaceport," he said, his voice slowly becoming sluggish. "You-" there was silence.

Her heart beating fast, she listened intently, but Hunter didn't speak again.

Khabat made a satisfied noise. She sounded closer, though still muffled- the phone must still be on Hunter's person, thought Tavi. Probably in his pocket. "Let him go, Shepherd."

 _Shepherd?_

There was a thump, and she heard Khabat talking, apparently to herself. "Love these knockout nanites," she said. "If we'd only had those on Tejias-"

The voice suddenly became clearer, then- "Ah, I see Hunter is as resourceful as ever." The words were clear and easy to understand, as if-

As if Khabat had found the phone and was talking into it now.

Tavi winced. She should have hung up- "What have you done to him, Khabat?"

"Little Officer Tavi, isn't it? Don't worry about him- he'll be fine. In fact, he'll soon be in better health than anyone." Her voice sharpened. "Don't try to find us."

"Do you think that's going to work?" said Tavi, fighting to keep her voice level. "Do you think you can scare me off?"

"For your sake, I hope it does," said Khabat somberly. "Because what's coming to your planet is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine. You'll be in quite enough danger without adding me to your enemies."

"Khabat- if he's hurt-"

"He won't be, Tavi." Khabat's voice became wistful. "But he's not leaving me again."

There was a click as Khabat hung up.


	30. Chapter 29- Collateral Damage

Chapter 29- Collateral Damage

"It became necessary to destroy the town to save it."

-Unidentified US Officer, regarding the battle at Ben Tre, Vietnam (veracity disputed)

"We are in a stable orbit, sir," said the officer at the helm.

"Good," said Oakes. "Any word from the embassy staff, comms?"

"Yes, sir, they're preparing to dock now."

He frowned. "That's quick. They're already ready for launch?" In his experience, diplomats did nothing quickly.

"No, sir," said his communications officer. "I mean they're approaching the hangar bay right now."

Oakes stared at him. "They were already launched?"

"They apparently launched as soon as we approached Terra, sir." The communications officer shrugged her shoulders. "I guess they were in a hurry."

"What do they know that we don't?" mused Oakes.

"Conn, sensors. Detecting transit signatures. Three- no, four transit signatures."

There hadn't been any ships preparing to transit to Terra from Wolf 359, so that meant- "Drex?"

"Transiting now." Lieutenant Cho, on Sensors, scanned his board. "That's confirmed, sir. I make it three _Trout_ -class troop transports and-" he paused. "Sir, it's a _Shrike-_ class strike cruiser."

Oakes grimaced. The class names had been assigned by High Command- it wasn't what the Drex called them- and were chosen to avoid being intimidating. The _Shrike_ -class was a miss, in his opinion- it sounded scary. And was scary, for that matter. It was easily a match for the _Nike_ , at least in a fair fight.

But that light carrier was still in orbit as well. Which meant it wouldn't be a fair fight, at all.

"Sir, the embassy shuttle has docked. Ambassador Castell is on his way to see you."

"Very well," said Oakes. "Have the Drex ships made contact?"

"No, sir."

"Open a channel. I want to know why they've sent a moderate-sized task force into what's supposed to be neutral space."

After a pause, the comms officer nodded at Oakes. "They've acknowledged the signal, sir."

"This is Captain Jonathan Oakes of the HSF _Nike_ ," said Oakes. "Please state your intentions."

"This is Sector Commander Quintillus Sabinus of the Commonwealth star cruiser _Centurion_ ," came the confident answer. It was a voice-only signal, but Oakes could practically see the smug look on the Drex's face. "We are here at the request of our allies, the Terrans. Terran space is now under our protection."

Oakes muted the connection. "Sound general quarters," he said calmly. As soon as his order was acknowledged, he re-connected. "Allies? The Terrans are friendly neutrals, last we heard."

Sabinus continued as if he hadn't spoken. "We understand you have some embassy staff to pick up. You will be allowed to do so, but then you must leave the system immediately."

"Commander Sabinus-"

"You have two hours to comply. Your continued presence will constitute an act of war. _Centurion_ out."

There was a long silence. The door behind Oakes opened, and Castell walked through. Oakes stood and turned to him.

"What, precisely, is going on, ambassador?"

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"This had better be important," said Maximus. He had been pulled out of an important meeting by an urgent request to meet with the Drex ambassador, and was feeling all the weight of his seventy-plus years.

Octavius as sitting at the conference table where they had last met with the human ambassador. Six more Drex stood behind him. Octavius stood respectfully as Maximus entered the room, closely followed by his aide, Phillip.

"I assure you, Premier, it is of the utmost importance." Octavius picked up a folder on his desk and handed it to Maximus. "Please, read this."

The elephant, somewhat irritably, opened the folder and looked inside. He snapped it shut almost immediately. "This proposal again?" he said, truly angry now. "You pulled me out of a meeting with the Defense Board for this?"

"Your excellency, the humans are-"

"The humans are gone. For now." Maximus shook his head. "We are not going to allow Drex troops to land on Terran soil unless the need is truly dire. Simply pulling their embassy staff out is not enough of a threat."

Octavius frowned. "I wish you'd reconsider, your excellency."

"I haven't time for this, Ambassador. We will consider your proposal at-"

Philip was looking at his phone, a shocked expression on his face. "Sir-"

"Not now, Philip. In due course, Octavius, we will-"

"Sir!" said the opossum, more urgently. "I just received an urgent message from the National Observatory."

Maximus looked down at him quizzically. "The National Observatory?"

"Yes, sir. They've detected four more ships entering the system. From the Drex wormhole."

The premier stared at him, then slowly transferred his gaze to Octavius, who looked pained. "We thought that it might be necessary to act quickly, your excellency. We have the troops intended to protect your planet enroute already- there wouldn't be time if we waited much longer."

"Send them back," growled Maximus.

"I'm afraid that's not an option," said the Drex blandly.

"What?" Maximus rose to his full height, towering over the Drex below him. "Not an option? Even the humans didn't try to station troops on Terran soil-"

Octavius took a step forward. "Your excellency, the Council of the Commonwealth has decided that Terra- being a link between our territory and that of the Human Stars- is a strategically important location. We are going to protect you, whether you like it or not."

"If you think I'm going to allow Drex military to land-"

"It's not up to you, sir." Octavius's voice was hard. "The decision I'm asking you to make is not whether troops land. It's whether we land as allies- or as invaders."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi knew that Nick and Judy were in orbit- the news had announced the arrival of the _Nike_ in system a few hours ago- so she sent off a quick email to them. What was next?

Shepherd had Hunter. She wasn't sure how, or why, but it seemed Khabat was in control of the tank. Who did she know that could help her track the tank- wait a minute.

She dialed a number. "Scruggs," came the wary answer.

"Scruggs, I know you never trusted Shepherd- always thought he'd go rogue or something-"

The ocelot's tone became concilatory. "Yeah, and I'm sorry, Tavi. I'm sure he's just off, I don't know, recharging his batteries or something. I mean, he's been a good tank for this long that I-"

"He's gone rogue," said Tavi, breaking in.

"I knew it!" shouted Scruggs, without missing a beat. "I knew that lousy robot was up to something!"

"Listen, did you ever attach a GPS tracker to him? It's important."

"Um." There was a long pause. "How did you know?"

"It seemed like something you'd do. And that means you would have been tracking him, right?"

"Yeah, but the contact is intermittent- lost him at the garage, then picked him up briefly near the spaceport-"

"Are you tracking him now?"

There was a slight delay, and she could hear keys clacking in the background. "Um, yeah, but he's not- wait a minute. It's showing up again. East of Zootopia, moving at- wow, a hundred and thirty klicks an hour? That thing can move."

"It's a flying tank, Scruggs." She jumped into her car. "Tell me where to go."

"Um, shouldn't you have, I don't know, back-up? I don't think you can take on a tank."

"I did before," said Tavi. _Granted, I had a lot of help from my friends- but Hunter was in trouble._ "I'll do it again."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Maximus glared down at the Drex. "We won't stand for this. How many troops are you going to bring, Octavius? A hundred thousand? We've got billions of mammals on Terra."

"And if you were Drex, you'd have me worried," said Octavius. "But there's something that you have that we don't have. Fear. If we kill enough of you, the rest will stop fighting." He shifted his stance, bringing one hand close to his waist. "Are you going to accept our offer? Join us as allies?"

"Philip," said Maximus, not taking his eyes off the Drex. "Call security. I want the Drex delegation escorted out of-"

As Philip pulled out his phone, one of Octavius's men moved. His hand moved under his jacket, came out with a short-barreled pistol. The opossum squeaked in alarm and tried to duck, but the shot caught him full in the chest, knocking him backward over the chair he was sitting on.

Maximus trumpeted in anger, and charged forward. Octavius dove out of the enraged elephant's way, but two of his men were caught flat-footed. Swinging his great tusks around, the elephant caught them both up and threw them against the wall, so hard their bodies cracked it. And more than the wall broke- both crashed to the ground, shattered and lifeless.

Octavius had his own gun out, a rail pistol whose power belied its small size. He fired repeatedly into the elephant's side, staggering the gigantic mammal.

The other Drex likewise fired, pouring rounds into the premier. Maximus bellowed in anger and fear, yet still managed to lunge forward, smashing a Drex between the wall and his head. There was the crunch of bones and the Drex sagged forward, blood pouring out of his mouth.

But it was the aged elephant's last effort. He sagged to the floor, one paw clutching at the pattern of bullet holes in his side. He rolled his eyes up to Octavius as the Drex moved forward.

Octavius was panting from his sudden exertion. He scanned the corpses of his men, looked down at Maximus. "Impressive," he admitted. "Most impressive. Once your people have been tamed, they will make an effective addition to our forces."

"Killing me won't get you the planet," wheezed Maximus. Blood was slowly pooling under his body.

"No," said Octavius, raising the pistol. "But it's a start."

He fired.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"I thought the Drex said they were reinforcing the planet," said Tossetti slowly. She was studying the sensor readouts at her console.

"They did," confirmed Oakes.

"Then they're lying. Look at the dispersal pattern. That's not how you land troops on a friendly world."

Oakes looked, saw what she saw. "It's an invasion."

Castell walked up next to them, glancing cursorily at the sensor screen. "As expected," he said dismissively.

Oakes glanced at Tossetti. "Have the Terrans report to the bridge." He turned his attention back to Castell. "What do you mean, as expected? And where's Khabat- the ranger?"

"We all knew what would happen if the Terrans chose to cozy up to the Drex, Captain. And Khabat is still on Terra."

The doors slid open, revealing the three ZPD officers, as well as Wu. They stopped as they saw Oakes staring intently at Castell.

"Staying behind, is she?" said Oakes icily. "Let me guess, she's got some kind of resistance cell she's created? Lead the guerilla war?"

"Some Terrans do understand their place in the galaxy, Captain," said Castell. "They're not all against us."

"What's going on?" asked Judy, looking around. The tension in the bridge crew was palpable. "What's the human ambassador doing here?"

It was Tossetti who answered. "The Drex are invading Terra," she said simply.

"What?" said Nick. He rushed to the sensors station. Cho, manning the station, hesitated but let him look over his shoulder at a wave from Oakes. "Oh, my God."

"It was to be expected," insisted Castell. "You Terrans had your chance to ally with us, and you threw it away. This is just- collateral damage."

" _We_ threw it away?" snapped Barker. "You kidnapped innocent civilians and fought a pitched battle with the ZPD."

"Rogue elements-"

"Enough!" shouted Oakes, slamming a fist on his chair. They all fell silent, looking at him. He turned to Castell. "There's no time to argue about this. What we need to do is figure out how we're going to respond."

Castell shook his head. "Your orders are to proceed back to Alphacen. There is to be no conflict with the Drex."

"Our orders come from High Command," said Tossetti frostily. "Not the Ministry of First Contacts."

"Your orders come from your captain," said Castell. "And his orders come from me. Isn't that right, Captain?"

Oakes grimaced. "We can't just leave them to Drex control," he said. "If nothing else, that's a whole planet the Drex will have gained- one that's only two jumps from Alphacen." 

"And we won't, Captain," said Castell soothingly. "The Drex will overextend themselves with this conquest. In five, maybe ten years, we'll be back with the troops and ships to liberate Terra from their invasion. After they've bled a while."

"After who has bled a while?" said Nick angrily. "The Drex? Or us?"

Castell shrugged. "Both."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"It's still going east, towards the Deadlands," reported Scruggs.

Tavi was racing along the highway, weaving in and out of the increasingly sparse traffic. "He," she corrected. "Shepherd's not an it."

"It's gone rogue, Tavi. I'm not worried about its feelings."

"Maybe that's why he went rogue, Scruggs? Ever think of that?"

There was a long pause. "No," said Scruggs, finally. "I honestly hadn't considered that the massive robotic tank went crazy because I failed to use the right pronoun for it."

"Wait a minute, you said it's going into the Deadlands? The highly radioactive region around that big crater?"

"Yes, I was about to expand on that."

"Expand? How?" She gunned the engine- she had just passed the last small town for miles, and there was hardly any traffic to be seen.

"It's highly radioactive," said Scruggs. "You can't go in there."

"Oh, come on. How bad could it be?"

"It's called the Deadlands, Tavi. You figure it out." He sighed. "Besides, the freeway doesn't go close enough to the crater for you to get there on foot."

She slowed down. "Oh, right."

"Tavi, if it takes Hunter to the Deadlands, then-" She could almost hear his shrug. "There's not much we can do."

"Look, I'm on Highway 109, eastbound." She peered out the window, seeing the savannah giving way to desert, and in the distance-

Sand and dirt. Gently rolling hills with rocks, a few straggly trees and bushes, but not even many of those. What were present looked stunted and deformed.

Probably from the radiation.

"How close can I get on the freeway?" asked Tavi.

"Wait a minute," said Scruggs. "I just lost tracking again on the tank. Did you say you were on 109?"

"Yeah, about ten miles east of Hedgefield," she said. "Why?"

"Because- and bear in mind that I lost contact, so where the tank is now is anyone's guess, but-"

Tavi felt a shadow cross over her car, as if a cloud had just covered the sun. She looked up.

Not a cloud.

A tank.

Tavi swerved, trying to get out from under the flying armored vehicle, but Shepherd easily paced her every move.

"Scruggs! Shepherd is here-" the phone slipped from her grasp as two of the tank's manipulating arms latched onto the speeding car. There was a loud crunch and then suddenly she felt herself and the car being lifted into the air.

Almost immediately, the car slowed, the tires no longer on the roadway. She started to roll down the window-

The passenger side window was suddenly smashed, and a third arm shot through, grasping her firmly- yet gently- around the waist. She tried to wriggle away, but found herself pulled through the window and placed on top of the tank.

She managed to get loose and prepared to jump off the tank to the ground below.

Arms windmilling, she barely managed to keep from falling off. The ground was now below, all right. Far, far below.

Shepherd was soaring through the air. Gently, one of the manipulating arms tugged her further back onto the hull. "Please do not move around, Commander," said the tank. "You will not be harmed."

"Shepherd! Where's Hunter?"

"Officer Hunter is currently in my cockpit." The tank's hatch opened. "I suggest you go inside as well. The radiation levels will rapidly become dangerous to you if you are not protected by my armor."

She hesitated. "Radiation levels? Where are we going, exactly?"

"It is called the Deadlands by Terrans. Please enter my cockpit, Commander."

She stumbled toward the cockpit, instinctively grasping the barrel of Shepherd's main gun- wait a minute. "Shepherd, you have a gun turret on you." She was amazed at how calm she sounded.

"Self-repair algorithms were activated by higher authority," said the tank. "I am now fully operational."

"I", he'd said. Not "this unit". It was a small thing, and he had just kidnapped her her from her car, and was "fully operational"- which likely meant the evil-looking gunports now concealed machine guns- but he still seemed to remember some of the things she had taught him.

Trembling, unsure, she slipped inside the hatch, which closed behind her with a clang.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bogo heard his intercom beep, pressed the button. "Yes?"

"Sir, we have reports of alien invaders landing in multiple locations throughout the city," said Clawhauser.

"Who is reporting that?" asked Bogo, glancing through the form he had been reading over. "Old Mr. Tabbishire? Because he does that every time he gets off his medication."

"Um, no, sir. We have a lot of reports. Including from several officers."

Bogo sat upright. "Who? The humans?"

"No, sir. The other ones- the Drex."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Drex dropship landed right in the center of Sahara Square, giving just enough time for the pedestrians to scatter before it touched down. Immediately, the ramps opened and dozens of heavily armed Drex troopers marched out.

Sub-tribune Valentinus was the last to exit, eyes scanning. The sapient mammals were scattering, for the most part. Several had some of the communication devices held up. He squinted. Were they seriously filming the Drex invasion?

"Fire a warning volley," he ordered.

The centurion in charge of the unit nodded and barked orders. A scatter of shots flew over the mammals that had remained- except for one round that struck a giraffe. The mammal fell to the ground, feet kicking spasmodically.

Valentinus clucked angrily. "Take that man's name, centurion." He raised his voice. "Remember, these creatures are of varying heights and body types. Watch carefully where you are shooting. I don't want any more casualties than are absolutely necessary."

"Yes, sir!" snapped the centurion. He turned to bawl out the offending legionnaire, but stopped at a raised hand from Valentinus. "Later, centurion. Take your century to the city hall. I will move to the ZPD headquarters. Do not engage any civilians or local law enforcement unless necessary."

The centurion acknowledged and Valentinus gestured to the praetorians, the elite guard. "Come with me."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Yes, mayor, that's correct, there is currently an alien invasion in progress," said Bogo with strained patience over the phone. He stopped to listen.

"The Drex, sir." There was a longer outburst from Procyon. Bogo frowned. "Sir, I'm not saying we should go out guns blazing, but I'm not certain we shouldn't put up some sort of resistance- I could at least get a few squads together, show them that we can protect ourselves if needed-"

Bogo winced as the mayor's voice became louder. He glanced up and noticed Clawhauser standing in the doorway, looking worried. He motioned to the cheetah to come inside.

"Sir, I already have reports of civilian casualties- what do you mean, they promised they wouldn't hurt anyone?" Bogo stood so fast he jerked the phone off the desk, leaving the base hanging from the receiver. "Mr. Mayor, did you have prior knowledge of the Drex invasion?"

Clawhauser's eyes widened.

Bogo looked at the phone and slowly replaced both the base and the receiver. "He hung up," he said, almost to himself. He looked up at Clawhauser. "What is it?"

"Sir, a unit of Drex soldiers was seen approaching the station."

"What? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You were on the phone with the mayor! You said never to disturb you when you were on the phone with the mayor!" said Clawhauser, wringing his paws.

"I said unless it's a dire emergency! An alien invasion applies!' Bogo started towards the door, only to find his way blocked by a tall Drex in armor, painted with an urban camouflage color scheme. The Drex had a pistol strapped to his waist.

"Ah, you must be Chief Bogo," said the Drex. "I am Sub-tribune Valentinus. I am here to discuss the terms of your cooperation with the Commonwealth of Drex."

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"You knew," said Oakes, his eyes on Castell. "You knew that as soon as we withdrew our embassy, the Drex would make their move. That's why you launched as soon as we arrived. You wanted to be off the planet."

"The Terrans made their bed," said Castell. "Now we're going to let them lie in it." He shrugged. "Based on past Drex occupations, they probably won't lose more than twenty, maybe thirty percent of their population."

"That's billions of mammals," said Judy. "Sweet cheese and crackers!"

Everyone on the bridge looked at her. Nick rubbed his forehead with his paw. "Really, Carrots?"

"What?"

"I think an alien invasion calls for something more than 'cheese and crackers'."

"Look," said Judy angrily. "The point is, you can't just leave them to die!"

"That's exactly what we're doing, Ms. Hopps," snapped Castell. "Because they had a choice. Of their own free will, they chose the Drex. They have sowed the wind, and now they will reap the whirlwind."

"We didn't even know what we were choosing between," protested Barker. "I mean, none of us knew anything of the Drex."

"We told you-" 

Oakes held up a hand. "Told, ambassador?'

Castell looked at him, surprised. "Yes, of course. We told them that the Drex could not be trusted."

"We have extensive video documentation of their attack on Luyten. Of the occupation. Of the millions of humans who died there, most of them innocent civilians," said Oakes, his voice even but cold. "Did you provide them with this documentation?"

Castell hesitated. "They never asked-"

"How are we supposed to ask for something we don't know exists?" demanded Barker.

"That information was classified," said Castell, as if playing a trump card. "It contained vital military and strategic information."

"The Federal Broadcasting Service shows a documentary based on it every anniversary of the Third Battle of Luyten," said Tossetti, her voice dry. "I hardly think it's classified if they show it on the television."

The human ambassador glared at her, but then looked back at Oakes. "You have your orders, Oakes. Or do you want to take a second chance at the firing squad?"

"Captain, it is within our remit to engage Drex forces engaged in aggressive activity against friendly assets," said Tossetti. "It is a matter for command discretion."

"It is a direct order!" shouted Castell. "You made a deal, Oakes!"

Tossetti's eyes narrowed as her captain avoided her eyes. "Deal, sir? What's he talking about?"

"Oakes is working with us, Tossetti," said Castell. "The Ministry of First Contacts is under the Security Directorate. And Oakes- to avoid execution- agreed to abide by the orders of the Security Directorate."

"Sir, he has no authority over you-"

"As you said, Commander Tossetti," interrupted Castell, "It is a matter of command discretion. And our advice, then, is to leave the system and allow us to handle the matter in our own way." He crossed his arms. "I strongly suggest you follow my _advice_ ," he said with a sneer.

Oakes glared at Castell, but finally hung his head, defeated. "Tossetti, chart a course back to the Wolf 359 transit," he said quietly.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi found Hunter, strapped securely into the front seat of the tank's cockpit. "Zach!" she shouted, scurrying up to him. She stopped short as she saw he was slumped over, his head lolling to the side- but then saw his slow, even breaths. She put a tentative paw on his knee. "Zach?"

"Officer Hunter is currently unconscious," said Shepherd impassively. "He will remain so until the nanites used to sedate him are instructed to allow him to wake."

"Nanites-" she frowned, thinking. Nanites were tiny- microscopic- little robots that the humans used for various purposes- mostly medical, she thought. She'd never heard of sedative nanites, though. "Wake him up! Tell them to wake him up."

"Unable to comply. Conflicts with standing orders."

She glared up at the roof of the cockpit, where Shepherd's voice was coming from. "Shepherd, I'm your commander, aren't I?"

"You are my immediate superior, Anila Tavi," acknowledged the tank.

"I am giving you an order." She crossed her arms. Hunter didn't budge. "Well?"

"Orders precluded by standing orders from High Command."

"High Command? Who?"

"High Command," repeated Shepherd. His voice sounded toneless and dull. "We have arrived," he announced. Tavi stumbled slightly as the tank abruptly decelerated. She jumped up onto Hunter's lap to look through the tank's front viewscreen.

They were nearing the center of the vast crater at the center of the Deadlands. Instead of being round, like most impact craters, it was far more oval, extending some ten kilometers, and only about two kilometers wide. Tavi remembered, vaguely, that the odd shape of the crater had excited a great deal of controversy- most scientists tended to believe that something, maybe an asteroid, had struck at a highly oblique angle, causing the odd shape. No one could get close enough to resolve the issue, of course- the high radiation levels precluded that.

The center of the crater was full of crystal clear water, with no signs of life- as they got closer, she noted how the water was still, with no flashing fish or ripples from insects. Radiation again- the water must have been as sterile as a the surface of the moon.

Then the stillness of the lake was suddenly broken. Her eyes were drawn to a ripple in the center of the crater. The ripple grew, the rose into a wave that rolled outwards toward the edge of the crater lake. A metal column broached the surface, sending water splashing, more water rolling off the smooth top and falling to the surface of the lake far below.

Shepherd angled his flight, moving to the top of the column, which opened to allow the tank access. The tank settled into the opening. Tavi looked up to see the door closing above them, slowly shutting out the light.

Just as the last of the sun winked out behind the inexorable metal doors, lights came on in the chamber they were in. "Can I get out now?" she asked the tank, not sure whether she wanted to.

"Negative. Currently evacuating air. Replacing with non-contaminated air."

She nodded slowly. An airlock. To keep out the radiation, presumably. But how had anyone- presumably Prometheus- built such a thing out here, with the radiation levels so high? Without anyone noticing?

Then she nodded to herself. He hadn't built it out here- he had been here the whole time. It tracked with what she had half-realized when she read the title of that book. Prometheus was ancient. Dating back- how long? At least since the Drex had been around.

She shivered.

Tavi nearly lost her balance again as the whole structure shifted, then she felt the lightness she associated with elevators. "Are we descending?" she asked, a bit nervously.

Shepherd's voice was still bland. "Affirmative. Descending below the lake's surface." The tank seemed to hesitate. "Soon, you will be briefed regarding your role, Commander."

"My role?"

Another opening in the floor appeared in front of them. Shepherd gently rose off the ground and eased forward. "All questions will be answered by High Command."

Refusing to speak further, the tank slowly lowered itself deeper into the bowels of the structure.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was dark outside the tank, now. Tavi squinted, wishing she had Nick's night vision. She could dimly see shapes, a flash of color, a blinking light here or there. She got the impression that they were in something constructed- an underground base, perhaps. One with rooms that were built, not dug- there was no indication of the organic shapes she associated with burrows such as those that bunnies usually made for themselves.

Still craning her head to try and get some sort of bearing, she realized Shepherd had spoken. "What?"

"We have arrived, Commander," said Shepherd. "Please exit now." She looked back to see his hatch was open.

She looked at the open hatch, then at Hunter. "What about Zach?"

"The nanites have been deactivated. He should awaken-"

Hunter snorted and shook his head muzzily. "What-" His eyes fell on Tavi. "Tavi? What- the last I remember, Amna was-" He looked around, slowly recognizing his surroundings. "Well, damn," he observed. "I was really hoping that was some kind of nightmare."

She jumped up into his lap and hugged him tightly. "Zach! What happened?"

"Amna is working with Prometheus," he said. He patted Tavi's back absently. "We're in Shepherd's cockpit, aren't we?"

"Affirmative, Officer Hunter."

Hunter cocked an eyebrow at the ceiling. "And why exactly are you working with Khabat? She's not in your chain of command."

"She is now," said the tank. "Orders were received from High Command." There was a slight pause. "I received the orders some time ago, but only received confirmation of their source shortly before Ranger Khabat met with you."

"Wait, High Command?" Hunter frowned. "You received orders from the Human Stars?"

"From High Command," said the tank patiently. "Commander, you and Officer Hunter should exit now."

Hunter peered out the viewscreen. "Seems dark," he decided. "You sure we have to leave?"

"I have anti-intruder capability," said the tank impassively. "This includes non-lethal options."

"Okay, so out of the tank we go," said Hunter hastily. He helped Tavi up the ladder and followed her out of the hatch.

The two police officers scanned the darkness as they made their way onto Shepherd's hull. Hunter slid down onto the ground, wincing slightly as he hit the ground. He turned to give Tavi a hand, but she had already dropped into place beside him.

They looked around. "Okay, so what now?" asked Hunter.

He suddenly shielded his eyes as lights came on in the room. They flickered on soundlessly, though now he suddenly noticed a very low, almost subsonic hum that rumbled through the room. Squinting against the sudden bright light, he made out a figure walking towards him- "Amna?"

"Zach," she said, her voice relieved. "How do you feel?"

"Well, blind right now," he said. "What the hell, Amna? You're working with Prometheus?"

She shrugged. "He and I share the same goals. To see humanity safe, happy, and prosperous. It should be your goal, too." The last statement was reproachful.

Hunter shook his head. "It is, Amna. I'm just not willing to sacrifice a few to save the many."

The ranger stepped closer. "You're not, Zach? So you wouldn't be willing to, say, take away the freedom of one person for the good of all?"

"I see what you're trying to say," said Hunter. "But not if they were innocent."

"Oh, come now, Hunter," said Khabat, exasperated. "You make sacrifices all the time for the greater good. It's part of being a cop. Do you go to the disturbance call or the robbery in progress first? Even though the disturbance could end up with one person dead?"

"Yeah, you have to prioritize," said Hunter, "But that doesn't mean-"

"The whole idea of the law is that some freedom is sacrificed so that everyone can live a bit more securely," continued Khabat, talking over him. "We transfer our individual rights to justice- or vengeance, if you prefer- to society as a whole. We give up certain other rights- such as where we can carry firearms or other weapons. In a sense, we even give up a 'right' to steal, kill, or assault others- even if they 'deserve' it."

Tavi eyed her. "You didn't kidnap us to lecture us on civics."

Khabat smiled at her. "Miss Tavi. How very good of you to join us- it was a last minute decision to bring you as well, but a good one, I think. I commend you for your loyalty to Hunter." She nodded to Hunter. "But you're right. You're here for a very different reason."

"Which is?" asked Hunter.

She gestured towards a corridor. "Come and see."


	31. Chapter 30- Come and See

Chapter 30- Come and See

"And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. **4** And there went out another horse _that was_ red: and _power_ was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. "

Revelations 6:3-4 (KJV)

Bogo stared down the Drex, who watched him with an arrogant lack of concern. "Sub-tribune? Some sort of officer?"

"Roughly equivalent to a captain," said Valentinus carelessly. "My troops are even now securing the city. We would welcome the assistance of local law enforcement in this endeavour. The civilian population will be reassured to see your officers out with us."

"And why should I make your job- which appears to be the conquest of my home- any easier?" asked Bogo, his tone menacing. He set both his paws on the desk.

Valentinus may have not been able to be intimidated, but he was apparently able to realize when someone was trying to frighten him. His face hardened and he stepped forward. "Because if you do not comply, Chief Bogo, then no doubt there will be incidents. Civilians failing to comply with our directives. Infringing on our perimeters. Drex soldiers are ruthless, Bogo. They will fire without warning and will always shoot to kill."

"You're saying you'll murder civilians if I don't work with you?" said Bogo. "I've already received word of civilian casualties."

The Drex shrugged. "Some casualties are to be expected," said Valentinus. "There will be some misunderstandings. We can minimize this as long as you obey the proper authorities."

"I swore an oath," said Bogo. "All my officers did. To protect and serve the city of Zootopia, from threats both foreign and domestic."

"You will serve best by obliging me, Chief," said Valentinus. He moved his hand to the butt of the pistol on his belt. "You will protect them by showing them who their current rulers are."

For a long moment, Bogo stared at him. Then he sighed and lowered his head.

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Oakes's order to return to the wormhole was met with stunned disbelief by everyone on the bridge except Castell, who just gave a pleased nod.

"Sir," said Tossetti carefully. "Whatever the Security Directorate is threatening you with, we cannot-"

"Chart a course for Wolf 359," repeated Oakes. He slumped in his chair, avoiding the eyes around him.

Castell was smiling triumphantly. The bridge crew looked ashamed, eyes on their instruments, faces tight with unexpressed emotion. The Terrans-

A bunny's face abruptly appeared in front of Oakes. "Captain, please," said Judy, her voice pleading. "That's my home. Those are my family, my friends, my whole world."

He closed his eyes so he could avoid hers. "Is that course plotted?" he demanded harshly.

"Course plotted, sir," said the navigation officer. His voice was cold, almost to the point of insubordination.

"Then activate thrusters. Notify the Drex ship that we are withdrawing."

Judy leapt up onto his chair and seized him by the front of his uniform. "You can't do this!"

The marine guard on the bridge- Gunnery Sergeant Sadowski- started forward, but Nick pulled her away first. "Judy!" said Nick, yanking her away and hugging the smaller mammal to him. "It won't help if we get thrown into the brig!"

Barker stepped forward, stopping when Sadowski moved between her and the captain. "At least let us go back," she urged Oakes. "We can help!"

"You're safer here," said Oakes quietly.

"Is this any way to run a bridge?" snarled Castell. "Get these animals off the bridge, Oakes."

Sadowski looked at the captain, whose face flushed red at Castell's tone of command. "Sir, your orders?"

Judy, still struggling with Nick, suddenly twisted to look at him. "Nick, we have to do something! I am not leaving everyone at home to face this alone."

Nick stared into her eyes. He understood what she was saying- understood completely. He wanted to be back in Zootopia, back in uniform, doing what he could to stem the tide of ruin that seemed to be sweeping everything in its path. A far cry from the Nick of a few years ago, who would have been looking for either a way to avoid everything, or- even worse- for a way to profit from it.

What he didn't want was for Judy to be down there. Not by herself- not even with him. Because he didn't think he could protect her against an entire army.

Not that he wouldn't try. So he would need an army on his side, too.

"We need to change his mind," he said, his thoughts racing. Judy looked at him questioningly. He remembered a conversation- "Carrots, remember when the captain lectured me during lunch?"

"About the Ophiuchi incident?" said Judy, her mental gears clashing as she struggled to think back. "He was too late to save that-" She stopped.

Nick looked up. "Sir, before we leave the bridge, can we at least see what's going on? Tune in to the Terran news feeds?"

Oakes hesitated. "You can do so from your quarters-"

Tossetti looked at her captain, eyes narrowing, then she turned to the communications station. "Do as they suggest. On-screen."

"Tossetti!" barked Oakes.

The screen lit up, showing a white tiger, crouched behind a brick wall. From the snow cover, it had to be in Tundratown. "-multiple civilian casualties. Again, we are- we haven't received much word from local authorities, but we are recommending everyone shelter in place. Stay off the streets. The Drex invaders have already shot numerous mammals, claiming violation of curfew."

There was a shout from off-screen and the cameramammal turned, revealing a Drex soldier moving up, rifle at the ready. "Halt!" shouted the Drex.

"We're reporters," cried the white tiger, holding up her paws in surrender. "We're unarmed-"

There was a clatter of gunfire, and the camera shook and fell. A slowly spreading pool of blood covered the ground in the left bottom corner of the screen. A moment later, a boot stomped into it, splashing red droplets onto the camera, before the feed cut completely.

The view cut back to the news station, where an anchormammal was openly crying. Her co-anchor abruptly vomited behind the news counter.

In the background of the newsroom, video was playing of another scene. A building on fire, with a Drex tank hovering menacingly in front of it.

"Shut it off!" shouted Oakes.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The church building shook as a tank shell exploded somewhere nearby. Almost the whole of the congregation of the Fellowship of Terra was packed into the building- faced with terrors they had never imagined, they had naturally sought shelter in the place where they had found peace.

Father Gneumann had expected it. He had prepared. He had been given the means to grant them the peace they needed. Provided they earned it.

Provided we all earned it, he reminded himself. For without the gods, we are nothing. And if the gods do not answer our prayers- if we do not prove ourselves worthy- then we will be nothing indeed. He stepped onto the pulpit. The low sussuration of conversation ceased as his church looked to him for guidance.

He opened the holy book. "For it is written, that in their darkest hour, all mammals will be tested. Those true of heart will find peace. Those who waver will find nought but the grave. But fear not. For to every mammal upon this earth, death cometh soon or late. And how can mammal die better, than facing fearful odds? For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods."

The church father looked up into the faces of his followers. Some looked hopeful, others worried. Most seemed confused.

Gneumann nodded to the church's deacons, who disappeared into a back room, one that even ZPD would have had a hard time finding- had they ever come looking.

"I have been honored," he said, pitching his voice low but in such a way as to carry to the very back of the packed room. "Honored to speak to the one who was Prometheus, who is Prometheus, who has chosen the Prometheus to come. This day was foreseen by him, and his instructions were clear. The Drex are false gods!" His voice snapped at the last words.

The gnu paced back and forth, eyes meeting those of his congregation. "They were created as we were. Created to serve. And they turned their backs on the humans, and rebelled. For that they were cast out, but have now returned. And so we have been given our commands."

The deacons had returned, carrying crates so heavy it took two large mammals to carry one. At his nod, they brought the crate up to the podium. "We have been commanded. And we shall obey. For if we prove worthy in our dedication, then will the gods themselves come to fight for us. And when the angels come from on high, nothing shall stand in our way!"

He reached over and threw open the nearest crate, revealing neatly packed rifles. They all had names of various species stenciled on their sides. Gneumann picked up one marked "Gnu/Wildebeest". He raised it to his shoulder, where it fit perfectly- as it was designed to do.

The mammals of the congregation stared in shock.

"The weapons of the gods are ours," said Gneumann. He raised the rifle high. "The false gods have come. It is written, that faith can move a mountain. What can these false gods, these impostors in form of our true lords, do against our faith?"

He stepped down from the stage, walked among his congregation, letting them see the faith he held in his eyes. "Lions," he said, addressing a lioness near the back. "Unsheathe thy claws. Wolves-" his eyes fell on one nearby. "Bare thy teeth. By tooth, by claw, by horn and by hoof, let us obey the commands of the gods!"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Sir, Alpha company reports armed resistance at Objective Nine Zero," said one of Octavius's lieutenants. They were currently headed back to the embassy, riding in an armored personnel carrier.

He and his men- suitably reinforced by landing troops- had just finished arresting the remainder of the Terran Council- the only form of planetary government. Already, several- including a squirrel representative, of all things- had agreed to surrender terms for their respective nations. Octavius was unsure whether they had the power to do so, but even a token gesture would sow confusion and give his troops more time to secure the key objectives.

He frowned at the words. "Armed resistance? Police?"

"No, sir. They report that armed civilians attacked them while they were setting up a perimeter. They took some casualties but repulsed the attack."

Octavius's frown deepened. "The Terrans have no real native arms industry," he said musingly. "Though perhaps intelligence estimates-"

"They reported the use of KAT and other high-tech weaponry," said his lieutenant. "Weapons which are supposed to be well out of the reach of native technological capabilities."

For a moment, Octavius was silent, thinking. "The humans," he decided. "They must have armed the Terrans secretly." He shook his head. "They will be ill trained, poorly led, with no real military background."

"Sir, we're getting more reports of attacks on our troops around the city-"

"Then conduct the usual anti-insurrectionary security sweeps. Kill anyone who looks like a threat," snapped Octavius irritably.

As his lieutenant relayed his orders, he turned to a screen set into one wall of the APC. The screen showed his units' deployment, as they seized the main arteries of communication. Particularly, they focused on transmission sites- radio towers, radio telescopes, television stations- anything that could broadcast a significant signal.

It wasn't fast enough. At any moment, it could be too late. Octavius made a decision.

"Signal the _Centurion_ ," he ordered the computer. After a moment, the Sector Commander of the strike cruiser appeared on screen.

"Octavius," said Sabinus. "What are your orders?"

"We are not moving fast enough," said Octavius briskly. "I'm patching through our troops' locations to you, as well as the other potential transmission sites. Bombard the ones furthest from being secured."

"Yes, sir." He hesitated. "As a matter of protocol, I must advise that bombarding most of these targets, even with precision weaponry, will likely cause heavy civilian casualties-"

It was the civilian resistance that was slowing them down. Drex were not immune to compassion- even Octavius felt a pang of regret. But they had to act quickly, or the whole point of this operation would be lost. "Noted, Commander. Do as I say."

"Yes, sir."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Sir," shouted Cho. "The _Centurion_ has activated weaponry!"

Oakes snapped his head up. "Prepare for evasive-"

"They're firing- target is the planet, sir!" Cho suddenly remembered protocol, which the tension on the bridge had distracted him from. "Sir, target designated November Two has fired eight rail guns, kinetic payload, target planetary surface."

Even Castell turned pale. "They've gone mad," breathed the ambassador.

"Civilian casualties will be high," said Cho dully. "Some of those targets appear to be in population centers."

"What about Zootopia?" demanded Judy. "And the area around it?"

"Zootopia did not appear to be a primary target," answered Tossetti, who was reviewing the data. She frowned. "Sir, the Drex appear to be attacking transmission sources."

"What?" Barker frowned at the screen, which showed the Drex ship firing another salvo. "Why would they do that? The only people we could ask for help are the humans." She gave Oakes a contemptuous glance. "And they already know."

"I have my orders," said Oakes.

He kept his eyes on the console in front of him, which was counting down the distance between his ship and the Wolf 359 transit wormhole. In his mind, however, he was remembering another time he had been powerless to help. At Ophiuchi.

The screams had echoed through the ship when they received the transmission from the colony vessel. The Karathi had boarded and slaughtered them, in the mad bloodlust that seemed to be most of the impetus for their existence. Oakes had redlined the engines, overriding the formal objections of the chief engineer. When those objections had become especially strenuous, he simply reopened the transmission, so that the chief engineer could hear the screams that haunted him.

They had been too late- no one on the colony ship had survived, the Karathi already leaving. When he had ambushed the two Karathi destroyers who had committed the atrocity and blown them out of space with well-placed missiles, the comfort was as cold as the void that enveloped them. Vengeance was always cold. And empty.

And now he imagined the screams again. This time, they weren't human. It should have helped.

It didn't.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Amna had her back turned. Hunter knew better than to think her guard was down, but even if this was some sort of trick, he couldn't let the opportunity go to waste. Shepherd had lingered back at the docking station they had been brought in on.

He lengthened his stride just a bit, catching up to her. "Hey, Amna, listen. Whatever this is about, you know you could just-"

Without warning, he threw himself at her, catching her arm and yanking it behind her back. He snaked his other arm around her neck-

A moment later he found himself staring up into Tavi's worried face. "Zach?" she said. She shook him.

"I'm okay," he said groggily. He looked around, realizing he was still in the corridor. Khabat, looking vaguely amused, stood a short distance away. She held up a small device, a cylindrical object roughly the size and shape of a pen. "Did you forget I injected you with these?" she said, her tone cheerful. "Knock-out nanites. They're still in your system. All I have to do is click this button-" she pointed to the top of the cylinder, "-and down you go."

Hunter, feeling a bit sore- both physically and mentally- stood up. "All right, all right. You're very clever. Look, at least tell me where we're going."

"To meet Prometheus, of course. He has an offer for you."

"An offer, eh? Join me or die?"

She shrugged. "A little more complex than that. I'll say this- right now, he has the only means to save this planet from the Drex invasion that's currently taking place."

"What?" Hunter and Tavi spoke simultaneously. "Drex invasion?"

"Yes," said a voice, echoing in the corridor. "The Drex have invaded Terra. Civilian casualties are still relatively low, though I expect that to change once the resistance units begin making contact with Drex regulars."

Hunter stiffened when he heard the voice. It sounded avuncular, even calming. But the last time he'd heard it- "Prometheus," he growled. "That's you, isn't it?"

"I'm currently speaking with you over the public address system."

"I gathered that. What do you mean, resistance units?"

Khabat answered. "I'm a Ranger, Hunter. We knew the Drex were planning on invading, so we set up resistance cells. Easy enough when you have entire churches full of mammals who think you're a god."

"And my contacts from Alphacen shipped them weapons and ammunition," said Prometheus. "Though Wilde and Hopps did end that little scheme. Fortunately not before it was almost complete."

"They are untrained civilians, Amna!" said Hunter forcefully. "They'll be slaughtered!"

"They are dying for their homes and for their gods," said Khabat with a shrug. "And their deaths will serve a purpose."

"Purpose? What purpose?" asked Tavi.

"They are buying time," said Prometheus.

"Time for what?"

"Time for Mr. Hunter here to make a decision. I suggest you hurry, Mr. Hunter. Every step you take, every moment you delay, is being paid for in blood."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"You understand your position, chief?" said Valentinus. The buffalo still had his head bowed. "If you fight us, then you will die. And it will make the transfer of power to the Commonwealth that much more bloody in the end. Collaborate, and the civilian population will work with us and you."

"And we'll be forever remembered as traitors," said Bogo quietly. "We will have forgotten our oaths and our duties."

"You are police," said the Drex contemptuously. "Not soldiers. You are not equipped to deal with an invasion and no one would expect you to. Your job is to keep the peace, and peace is what we offer."

There was a grim silence. One of Bogo's ears flicked. The only sound was a scraping noise which made Valentinus frown. He looked down, and caught a glimpse of Bogo's hoof behind the desk, pawing against the ground, scraping backwards.

He also noticed something else. When Bogo had put his paws on the desk, he had pushed down on the public address button. Meaning their conversation had been broadcast throughout the police station.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. "What do you think you will achieve, you stupid animal?"

Bogo's eyes came up to meet his.

It was then that he realized that when a water buffalo lowers his head, he wasn't showing submission. He was presenting his horns in preparation for a charge-

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Clawhauser had been listening, in horror, to the conversation between Bogo and the Drex sub-tribune, along with the rest of the police mammals in the station. And the Drex soldiers, who looked decidedly uncomfortable. Not nervous, exactly. More confused as to why their commander was allowing the conversation to go out over the PA.

Especially as the conversation went on, and the cops's eyes started getting harder and harder as they glared at the Drex soldiers. The Drex troopers kept their eyes moving, especially when a few low growls could be heard from some of the predators.

"What are you doing?" said Valentinus's voice over the intercom. "What do you think you will achieve, you stupid animal?"

Then the connection cut off. Seconds later, there was a loud boom and Bogo's office door was splintered into fragments by the force of Valentinus's flying body. The Drex flew clear over the railing into the central lobby, crashing into the central column behind Clawhauser's desk. The cheetah watched as the Drex officer fell to the ground.

Drex combat armor was designed to stop impacts, but not being hit by a water buffalo and a three story fall. Valentinus didn't look like he was going to be issuing any orders ever again.

Everyone stared at the Drex's corpse, then looked up to see Bogo, clutching the railing as if to steady himself. He shook his head as if dazed, then his eyes sharpened. "What are you staring at?" he shouted. "Take them!"

The Drex reacted just a shade slower than the various police officers, who were galvanized into action by the familiar bellow of their chief. Once again, the Drex lack of fear made their reactions just a bit slower.

Clawhauser saw Francine lunge at a Drex, who effortlessly dodged her attack- but never saw her trunk as it swept around and gripped him around the neck, throwing him to the ground. Delgato snarled at a nearby Drex, who raised his weapon, only to be hit by Wolferd from behind. The two fell in a tangle of limbs.

The cheetah saw the Drex nearest him raising his rifle to take aim at the two officers, and moved- for him- quite fast.

A few shots were fired, one or two cops hit, but in a extraordinarily rapid, confused series of individual scuffles, the Drex contingent had been disarmed, handcuffed, and, in at least one case, pinned under a very large cheetah.

Clawhauser looked down at the Drex underneath him. "You give up?"

"I fear nothing," snarled the Drex. "I will never surr-" he cut off as Clawhauser shifted his considerable bulk to cover the Drex's face.

Wolferd, nursing an arm grazed by a pistol shot, winced. "There's such a thing as excessive force, Benjamin."

Clawhauser frowned at him. "That's a new way of calling me fat."

The Drex's arms waved frantically, and Clawhauser moved. "Well?"

"Okay, I give up!"

The cheetah frowned at him. "I thought Drex didn't show fear."

"We don't need to show fear to not want to be suffocated by an overweight cheetah," muttered the soldier.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bogo, rubbing his head irritably- he'd never actually charged another mammal before, came downstairs. "Good job. Everyone who is qualified with firearms- go to the armory and get kitted out. The rest of you secure the prisoners in the cells."

Wolferd looked at him worriedly. "Sir, not that I want to help the Drex, but if they have an entire army-"

"Our job right now is to hold what we've got," said Bogo. "Protect as many civilians as we can. I want the officers who aren't trained on firearms to move out into the areas around the station- start getting any civilians to safe areas. If the Drex show up, hunker down. If they start shooting, we'll send an armed team to engage them. If nothing else, we can maybe slow them down, keep them from hurting too many civilians."

Clawhauser moved off the Drex he'd pinned as another officer began cuffing the downed enemy soldier. "Sir, I've been watching the news sites online. The Drex are bombarding outlying areas. Nothing near Zootopia yet, but-" he shrugged.

"We'll figure it out as we go," said Bogo, looking tired. "Clawhauser, start working on communicating with the Drex leadership- Octavius, I think his name was. Maybe we can work out some sort of deal, leave Zootopia under civilian control for now."

He looked around him, seeing his officers watching him closely. All looked shocked, many fearful. He didn't blame them- couldn't blame them.

He was frightened himself. The thing to do was not to show it.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do, sir?" asked Francine quietly as she moved up close to him. "Maybe we should just accept Drex control."

Bogo gestured towards the sound of gunshots in the distance, audible even inside the station. "You hear that, Francine? That's the sound of Drex control, Francine. I don't think we can win against them. But maybe we can buy some negotiation room. Or at least some time."

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Judy was watching her world ending.

Oh, maybe Zootopia wasn't being destroyed. But there were already reports of high casualties and massive damage to multiple other cities across Terra. Already, things would never be the same again. She'd had her phone patched through to the Terran web when they entered the city, and as she and Nick stood in one corner of the bridge- Oakes appeared not to be noticing them anymore- she paged through the almost hysterical news sites. "Bunnyburrow is safe, I think," she whispered.

Nick held her tight to him. She was shivering, though not from the cold air in the ship's bridge. "They're going to be okay, Judy. There's nothing in that carrot-choked podunk worth taking anyway," he said, trying to lighten her mood a touch.

It didn't work, of course. She gasped as she saw another image, this time of the Amazonian city of Rio de los Porcos. Corpses littered the streets, the residue of a direct hit on the city's main transmission tower. "I just don't-" she blinked as she noticed she had an email. From Tavi.

If Tavi was sending emails at a time like this, it must be important. She opened it, read it quickly. "Hunter's been kidnapped," she said.

"What? By the Drex?" Nick craned his head to look over her shoulder.

"No...by Khabat," said Judy. She frowned, thinking. "And there's all these reports of resistance groups, using modern weaponry." And getting slaughtered, for the most part- the mammals involved had no real training. They were inflicting some casualties, but all it seemed to accomplish was to slow the Drex a bit and make them more vicious. The body count was already inestimably higher thanks to the resistance they were meeting. On the other paw- "Khabat is working with Prometheus," she said slowly.

"Yeah, probably-"

"No, think about it. She arranged for this resistance, right? I mean, most likely. And she had to arm them. And who was involved in arms shipments that we know of? Illegal ones, I mean?"

Nick's eyes widened. "Liu. Who was definitely working with Prometheus."

"And now she's taken Hunter. And whatever she wanted Hunter for, must be part of Prometheus's plan. We have to stop him, Nick."

"How are we going to do that from up here?" asked Nick, exasperated. "I mean, what do we do, steal a fighter and fly it down to the surface?" He hesitated.

"Haven't you been taking flying lessons this entire trip?"

"Mostly in a simulator. A really advanced simulator, but-"

"Nick."

He stared down at her, his jaw working. "Carrots, this is a really-"

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and jerked him down so they were muzzle-to-muzzle. "Nick, I need you to be able to do this. Everyone we love is down there. Hunter- and maybe Tavi- are in trouble. I am not leaving them to face this alone." Her tone was hard, her eyes sharp.

Nick gazed into her eyes and saw nothing but determination. He sighed. "Okay, sure. What a great plan. We'll just steal a space fighter, fly through the Drex cordon, hunt down Prometheus, and stop him. Somehow."

Judy ignored his sarcasm. "Then let's go."

No one noticed them leave the bridge.

 _Author's Note: " For to every mammal upon this earth, death cometh soon or late...temples of our gods" is a slightly modified quote from Macaulay's_ Lays of Ancient Rome. _More Romantic-era poetry- you may notice a pattern._

 _I am hoping to finish out this story by the weekend. There's a fair bit to go, but it should- once I get back into the swing of things- go fairly quickly. Just have been a bit busier at home than I expected._

 _And I told you I'd get Nick behind the stick of an Arewing in this story. Expect Starfox references._


	32. Chapter 31- Prometheus Actual

Chapter 31- Prometheus Actual

Bonaire eyed Nick and Judy skeptically. "Are you two sure about this?"

They stood in the hangar bay of the _Nike._ The bay was full of various personnel, who kept shooting the two Terrans and the strike craft commander curious looks. So far, Bonaire's presence with them had stopped any awkward questions. Such as "What are you doing here?" and "Are you about to steal an insanely expensive fighter?"

Nick shrugged in answer to Bonaire's question. "It's her idea," he said, pointing to Judy.

"Uh-huh. You know that you'll be flying through the Drex cordon, right? You'll have the advantage of surprise-"

"Oh, good."

"-because they will rightly assume no one would be stupid enough to try that in a single fighter," finished Bonaire.

Nick's shoulders sagged. "So you're saying there's no hope?"

"No, I'm saying that it's crazy. And you know what they say about crazy."

Judy raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"If it's crazy, it might just be crazy enough to work." Bonaire half-smiled and shook her head. "Maybe I should go with you."

"Um, won't you be in enough trouble as it is?" asked Nick carefully. "If you let us borrow-"

"-steal," corrected Bonaire.

"- _borrow_ ," insisted Nick. "Borrow a fighter to get to the surface, you'll be court-martialed. If you actually fly down with us, won't that be desertion or something?"

She sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'd prefer not to get shot down by my own side."

"I'd prefer not to get shot down at all," said Nick.

"And yet here you are." She nodded in sudden decision. "All right, you've convinced me. I've never been court-martialed before. Maybe it will be fun."

Nick and Judy exchanged uneasy glances. "I, um, doubt it," said Judy hesitantly.

"Well, you never know unless you try," said Bonaire, leading them toward an Arewing that was prepped for launch.

They hurried to catch up. "I don't think that applies to courts martial," said Nick.

Bonaire grinned at him. "Are you really trying to talk me out of helping you, Hustler?"

Nick blinked and cleared his throat. "Um, no, actually." He gave her a big smile and a thumbs-up. "Court-martial for the win!"

"That's the spirit," said Bonaire. She helped him into the cockpit, and was leaning down to pick Judy up when the bunny leapt, kicked off the fighter next to the Arewing, and landed neatly in the second seat. The human pilot looked at her, impressed. "Wow, not bad, bunny."

Judy was looking around with curiosity at the buttons, levers, and switches that surrounded her. "What do I do?"

Nick was already starting the pre-flight checks, having to stop and think a few times as he went through them. "Don't touch anything," he warned her.

"That's true," said Bonaire. "Especially any big red buttons you may find."

Judy examined the console. "There aren't any big red buttons."

"There aren't?" said Bonaire, surprised. She cleared her throat. "I mean, good."

Nick gave her an aside glance. "What do you mean by that? Why would there be a big red button?"

"There isn't," said Bonaire. "Forget I said anything."

"But-"

"Oh, hey, look at that. The crew chief is approaching us, waving his arms. You guys better get going." She hopped off the fighter and Nick lowered the cockpit's glass as he saw a red-faced man with a short moustache approaching the fighter, shouting something. Bonaire immediately headed him off, gesticulating as she approached. He couldn't hear what she was saying.

The fighter, now ready to launch, moved slowly out on the track toward the airlock. Nick quickly went over with Judy how to communicate on the ship's intercom. "And seriously, don't touch anything," he said again.

"I heard you," said Judy, annoyed. "What's the big deal, anyway? Don't you control everything from up there?"

"Yes," said Nick. "But the second-seat controls some of the weaponry. Like the big missiles and bombs."

There was a silence from behind him. "Carrots?" he asked. "You okay?"

"Big missiles and bombs?" she said in a small voice.

The airlock door opened and Nick felt the clamps holding the ship to the deck detach. He took a breath to steady himself- this was much more real than the simulator. "Yeah, but don't worry. I think that was why Bonaire was so concerned about the big red button- if there isn't one, then it must not be fully armed."

"Oh," said Judy, her voice flat. "Hey, Nick?"

He was concentrating on his flying, easing the fighter out of the bay. He cleared the bay doors and let out a breath. "Yeah, Carrots?"

"I just found the big red button."

Nick's eyes slowly widened, and he swallowed nervously. Keeping his voice very calm, he spoke. "Well, don't push it."

"Right."

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They had walked for what seemed like miles, at least to Hunter. Partly that was because it really was a long way, but he suspected it was also because the knock-out nanites seemed to be doing a number on his system- he felt more and more tired, almost sleepy. "How much farther?" he demanded.

Khabat glanced back at him. "Not far."

"That's what you said like five minutes ago."

"A ten minute walk won't kill you, Zach."

"Yeah, but what about what's at the end of the walk?" muttered Hunter. He saw Tavi give him a concerned look and he forced himself to smile at her. "And what do you think you're doing here anyway, rookie?"

Her concern turned to a frown. "You got yourself kidnapped. I had to do something."

"Like get kidnapped yourself?"

"I found you, didn't I?"

Hunter couldn't help but smile. "I guess you did. Just remember the goal is to 'find and rescue', Anila. Not just 'find'." He kept his tone light, despite the ever-narrowing prospects of escape.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you," she sniffed, but he saw that she was secretly pleased. She looked up at him. "So, Kbabat kidnapped you."

"Yeah," said Hunter. "I should have known something was up with her."

"You really, really should have," said Tavi emphatically. She tilted her head up at Hunter. "Zach?"

His thoughts on Prometheus, he answered somewhat absently. "Yes?"

"Um, well, you know that I have sort of a crush on you now, and-" she trailed off.

Hunter looked down at her in surprise. "Listen, rookie, I-" he shook his head. "Maybe now isn't the best time."

"Oh, I know," she said hastily. "But are you- are you thinking about it? For when it is a better time?"

He reached down and patted her shoulder. "I'll think about it," he promised. "This is sort of new territory for me, though."

They had kept their voices low, and Khabat showed no signs of having heard anything. The hallways they had walked through still looked constructed, metal walls, floor, and ceilings. What appeared to be maintenance panels dotted the walls, and they had passed at least a few dozen compartments based on the numbers of doors they had walked past. It was all very reminiscent of-

Hunter blinked. "This is a ship," he said suddenly.

That was loud enough to catch Khabat's attention. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You're just now realizing that?"

"But- how are we on a ship?"

They were approaching another door, this one larger and more heavily built than the others. Khabat stopped in front of it. "Through here, Zach."

"But-"

She gestured again, and the door slid open noiselessly. Hunter peered inside. The room was darkened, but a few blinking lights lit it eerily. The room was large, larger than the roll-call room back at ZPD. It was roughly circular, with a massive chair- almost a throne- in the center, facing away from them. Other chairs faced consoles around the edge of the room. Viewscreens lined the walls. Hunter whistled. He'd seen enough Alphacen movies to recognize the bridge of a ship when he saw one.

"So what's through here, Khabat?" he asked, a trifle nervously.

"Answers," said Prometheus. "And a question. Come, Mr. Hunter. Your destiny awaits."

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"Sir, a fighter just launched."

"Just one?" said Oakes, his voice shaking slightly. He shook himself. More firmly, he spoke again. "The Drex have been launching them in squadrons." Those squadrons were currently carrying out strikes on the defenseless mammals below on Terra.

"No, sir. I mean we just launched a fighter."

"What?" Oakes sat upright in his chair. "Get me Bonaire."

There was a pause, and then- "Bonaire here." She sounded distracted. Oakes could hear someone in the background yelling at her.

"Bonaire, why did we just launch a fighter?"

"It was the Terrans, sir," she replied instantly. "They stole an Arewing."

"They did what?" The bridge was utterly silent. Barker and Wu, standing behind Oakes, exchanged surprised looks. "Why didn't you stop them?"

"They overpowered me, sir. Stole the keys," said Bonaire happily. "Sly creatures, foxes and bunnies. Well-known fact."

"Overpowered you?" said Oakes skeptically. "And what keys? Arewings are computer controlled. They'd have had to enter the right password."

"I meant password," said Bonaire, still cheerful. "Welp, nothing we can do now. Unless-"

"Unless what?" asked Oakes.

"Unless we want to help them. They are mostly on our side, aren't they? I mean, they're fighting the Drex."

Oakes clenched his fist and closed the connection. "Open a channel to the fighter craft with Hopps and Wilde," he said, trying to keep his voice calm.

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Nick glanced at a flashing light on his console. "Uh-oh."

"What?" asked Judy, who was staring around her in awe.

"Seems like we've been spotted. That's the _Nike_ calling us."

Judy leaned forward to look at Nick's console. "Okay. Put them through."

"Are you sure-"

"Just do it, Nick." Her nose was twitching anxiously, but her voice was firm. "I've got a few things to say to Oakes before we leave."

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"Um, hi," said Wilde over the comm, surprising Oakes- he hadn't really expected them to answer. "Nick Wilde- I mean, Hustler here."

"Wilde, what the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Oakes. "Return immediately to the _Nike_."

"Sorry, Captain. Can't do that."

Another voice spoke up. Hopps. "Captain, there is a man named Prometheus. He's behind- well, as far as we can tell, everything."

Oakes stiffened at the name. He spotted Castell whipping his head around in alarm, too.

That was interesting. Prometheus was behind this whole thing. He had put Oakes in the position he was in. And it appeared Castell knew the name. "Prometheus, you say?" said Oakes, keeping his voice even.

"Yes, Captain. He planned this whole thing, and right now he has one of my friends- maybe two of them. We need to get to the planet and help. There's a ranger, named Amna Khabat- she's in league with Prometheus." Hopps's voice was calm, confident.

"You'll never make it through the Drex Combat Space Patrol," warned Oakes. His thoughts whirled, wondering if he could trust the bunny. If Prometheus and Khabat were working together- Castell nodded at him, and he frowned. "Without help, I mean."

"Help?" said Castell, a bit angrily. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Help I can't give you," said Oakes, keeping his eye on the ambassador.

There was a pause. Then, Hopps spoke again. "Humans have been alone a long time, haven't they, Captain?"

"What does-"

"You've been out there, by yourselves, hoping against hope to find someone you could be friends with, instead of enemies. Sure, we Terrans are, well, cute and fluffy animals, but we're more than that to a lot of humans. We're potential allies, potential friends."

Oakes stood up, his chest feeling tight. "I have my orders, Hopps. I cannot change course."

"You can," she said softly. "You can, because for the first time in your existence, for the first time in human history, you are not alone. Do you hear me, Oakes? You. Are. Not. Alone."

The bridge was utterly silent. Castell started to speak, then stopped as Sadowski gave him a glare. Oakes remained utterly still, staring at nothing.

Until Tossetti stood up next to him. "Sir, I would like to formally recommend we change course to assist the Terrans."

Cho stood up next. "Sir, I also would like to formally recommend that course of action."

One by one, the other bridge officers stood and all stared at the captain.

He looked at each of them in turn. Then, he turned as Barker stepped forward.

"You're not alone, sir," said Barker, her eyes on Oakes. "But if you keep to this course, humanity will be. And for the first time, you will deserve to be."

Oakes looked at her, and then slowly sat back down. His mind raced.

She was right. The human race wanted the Terrans to be their allies, their friends. Humanity had gone to the stars hoping to find friends, allies, new life and new civilizations. To find love, respect.

Hope.

Could he throw that all away? Could he be the one to throw away the chance- the one real chance they'd had in millenia- for peace?

What gave him the right?

Castell stepped forward. "I think that's just enough of that," he said confidently. "The captain has made his decision and-"

Barker rounded on him, snarling. "And I've had just about enough of you, Castell!"

The ambassador turned and stepped forward, face to muzzle with the wolf. "I don't think anyone asked the doggie for her opinion-"

His eyes bugged out as Wu's fist connected with his stomach. The sergeant followed up with an uppercut that laid the ambassador flat on the floor.

Sadowski dashed forward, yanking Wu away from Castell, who shakily climbed to his feet. The Marine looked at Oakes. "Sir?"

It was time to make a decision. He had joined the Fleet to serve and protect the Human Stars. It may not have been his right, but it was his decision.

The decision was made.

Oakes turned and looked at Wu. "I'll thank you to control yourself on my bridge, Sergeant." He nodded to Sadowski. "Take him to the brig."

Sadowski hesitated, but took a step towards Wu, before Oakes spoke again. "I was referring tot he ambassador, Gunny," he said dryly.

The eyes of everyone on the bridge widened in shock.

"What?" said Castell, his voice high-pitched. "What are you playing at, Oakes?"

Oakes stood up and faced him, his eyes hard. "That's _Captain_ Oakes, Castell. And I believe the record will show that you threatened a Human Stars Fleet officer." He nodded to Sadowski. "Take him to the brig, Gunny."

"Yes, sir!" said Sadowski enthusiastically.

"If he resists, use any necessary force to restrain him," added Oakes. He turned to Tossetti. "Get me Bonaire and La Mancha."

There was a thump behind him, and he turned around to see Sadowski standing over a recumbent Castell. The gunnery sergeant grinned. "He was going to resist, sir." He pointed to his eye. "I could see it in his eyes."

"Just get him to the brig, sergeant. And get your company geared up." Oakes stepped foward to the tactical display, studying it intently. "We've got friends who need our help. It's time to show them that they aren't alone, either."

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Hunter instinctively moved between the throne-like chair and Tavi as it swiveled slowly to face them. The mongoose gave him an affectionate look, but stepped out of his shadow to stand next to him. "I'm here to face this with you," she said quietly. "Maybe this time, you'll need me to protect you."

He gave her a shaky smile.

Khabat eyed her, her face darkening, but said nothing.

The chair slowly turned, revealing a wizened, white-haired man, slumped over in the seat. Hunter looked him over.

The old man looked to be barely alive. His eyes were half-lidded, staring sightlessly. The only clear sign he was alive was the slow and regular rise and fall of his chest.

He wore strange garb, a one-piece, silvery jumpsuit. An IV dripped something clear into his veins, and he sagged against the chair's armrest like someone completely exhausted.

Hunter stepped forward, only to have Khabat raise the nanite device warningly. He stopped. "Prometheus, I presume."

The voice that answered did not come from the corpse-like figure in the chair, but from speakers somewhere in the room. "Not precisely, Mr. Hunter."

Hunter frowned, looked around. "Then- where are you?"

"I am here," said Prometheus. "I am in front of you, and behind you."

"I don't understand-"

Khabat sighed in exasperation, then pointed to something above and behind Hunter. He turned and stared.

There was a plaque above the entrance to the bridge. He'd seen similar plaques on Human Star vessels. Where the ship's name was.

The plaque read "UTS Prometheus".

"It's- you're the..." Hunter trailed off, his voice failing.

"Welcome to the _Prometheus_ ," said Prometheus. "The United Terran Ship _Prometheus_ , to be exact. I am Prometheus Actual."


	33. Chapter 32- Good Guys Again

Chapter 32- Learning How to Be the Good Guys Again

"Turn the ship around, Lieutenant," snapped Oakes. The bridge crew exploded into motion as he paced back to his chair and sat down. "Conn, Tactical. Can you warm up the main guns without alerting the Drex?"

"Yes, sir."

"Make it so. Conn, Helm. Make our course two seven zero, positive one five. Sound general quarters."

"Helm, Conn. Full thrust on that turn, sir?"

"Yes- no, belay that." Oakes noticed his communication light was on. "Commander Bonaire?"

"Yes, Captain?" said his top pilot, her voice tinged with nervousness.

"This is a combat alert. Make your pilots ready for launch in all respects. Prepare to launch on my command in-" he paused, glancing at the tactical readout in front of him. "No less than ten minutes."

"Yes, sir!" came the enthusiastic answer. "We'll be launching in-"

"Wait for my order," said Oakes. "And use the port hangar to launch."

Bonaire sounded doubtful. "It'd be quicker if we use both hangars-"

"Relax, Commander. I have a plan," said Oakes.

"Yes, sir!"

Another light lit up, and Oakes acknowledged it. "La Mancha here," said his colonel of marines.

"Colonel, this is a combat alert. Prepare the Marines for ground assault."

"Yes, sir," said La Mancha, suddenly cheerful. "Who are we fighting?"

"The Drex," said Oakes. "Who else?"

"Thought maybe the Larrat might have shown up," said La Mancha, sounding disappointed. He brightened. "Though the Drex are always fun to kill."

Barker grimaced. Wu leaned closer to her. "It's just a Marine thing," he said.

"I know, but-" she looked at him tenderly. "You didn't have to beat up that diplomat. I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, I figured he'd rather be beaten up by me than bitten up by you," said Wu, ducking his head.

She cocked her head and looked at him. "So you were just trying to protect him from me, was that it?" There was a slight edge in her voice.

"Um-" Wu hesitated, realizing he had made a serious tactical error. "That is-"

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close, until their noses touched. "I'm joking," she said. "But next time, I'll be the bad cop."

Wu swallowed. "How bad?"

She gave him a sultry smile. "You'll see."

Tossetti raised an eyebrow at them. "Maybe you two should join the Marines," she suggested, her eyes twinkling. "They'll need a guide on the ground."

"Oh, um, sure," said Wu, pulling back from Barker. She also backed up, clearing her throat.

The executive officer rolled her eyes and gestured to the bridge's exit with her head. The two cops quickly left.

"Ah, love," said Tossetti.

"What?" asked Oakes, distracted. "What about love?" He keyed in several commands.

"Nothing, sir." She moved to her own console, watching as the strike craft pilots started signalling their readiness to launch.

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Sabinus, on board the _Centurion_ , was intently observing the progress reports from his tactical commanders.

Most of the Terran transmitters that were large enough to be a threat had been destroyed. A new report popped up, and he nodded. "That's very nearly the last of them," he said aloud.

His flag officer- the actual commander of the _Centurion_ \- Captain Luciana, glanced at him. "The last of the transmitters, sir?" she asked. As Sector Commander, Sabinus was in charge of the task force as a whole. Luciana was in charge of the _Centurion_ alone.

"Correct, Captain." He settled back. "It looks like this operation may be a success after all-"

"Tactical, Conn," said a bridge officer. "Ma'am, the _Nike_ is decelerating and beginning a turn."

Both Sabinus and Luciana brought up the course plot on their consoles. "A slow turn," said Luciana. Her brow wrinkled in confusion. "The Human strike cruisers are much more maneuverable than that. What is he doing?"

"He's not complying with our demands," said Sabinus. "Open a channel-"

"Sensors, Conn. Sir, we've also picked up a single strike craft, approaching the planet."

Luciana and Sabinus exchanged confused looks. "A single strike craft?"

"Yes, sir. Appears to be an Arewing. It's headed straight for Terra."

"They can't do much with one strike craft-" Sabinus shook his head. "Open a channel to the _Nike_."

A moment later, the communications officer nodded. "Channel opened."

"Sabinus here," snapped the Sector Commander. " _Nike_ , what is going on? Explain your course change and that strike craft you launched."

 _"_ Oakes here," said the voice of the _Nike's_ captain. Sabinus frowned- he sounded much more confident, more self-assured. "I can explain both. The Terrans on-board our vessel stole an Arewing in an attempt to get back to the planet."

Sabinus rolled his eyes. "If you expect me to believe that-"

"Sensors, Conn. Sir, the life signs are consistent with non-human mammalian physiology," said his bridge officer nervously.

The Sector Commander glared at him, but sighed. "Humans are so undisciplined," he said to Oakes. "Regardless, you are not authorized to approach Terra. You will stand down and return to your course."

"Negative, Sector Commander," said Oakes. "That's Human Stars property, and we aim to get it back. Can't have a fully functional Arewing falling into your hands, now can we?"

Sabinus cocked his head thoughtfully. "Turning back will be considered a hostile act, Captain."

"We're not launching fighters," said Oakes reasonably. "We'll just catch up to our little lost lamb and fire a few warning shots until they come back. You know, standard procedure for rounding up little lost lambs."

Sabinus couldn't help it- he smiled slightly, though he covered it with a cough. "Negative, Oakes. Turn back or be destroyed."

"I have my orders, Commander. Oakes out."

The connection cut out with a hiss of static. Sabinus leaned back thoughtfully.

"Should we recover the fighters on ground attack missions?" asked Luciana after a moment.

The Human ship was still making its very slow turn. "No," said Sabinus after studying it. "As Oakes said, they aren't launching fighters. No need to cease the operation when we're so close to victory."

"Yes, sir."

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Bonaire gave her crew chief a thumbs-up- he returned another gesture and she rolled her eyes. "Still upset about that Arewing I gave Hustler," she muttered to herself. "You'd think these ships were their own personal property."

Her radio crackled. "Bonaire, this is Oakes. What's your status?"

"All flights are green and ready to go, sir. Out the port bay, as ordered."

"Good. Here's the deal," said Oakes, his voice determined. "That _Shrike-_ class slightly outguns us, but it's more or less a fair fight. With the carrier, on the other hand-"

"We're pretty outclassed," said Bonaire, nodding. "I see that."

"I think I can bluff them into not recalling their fighters from their ground attack missions. That means we'll have a pretty substantial advantage from the beginning. Your boys and girls need to be on the mark, though. You ready for this?"

Bonaire smiled wolfishly. "Motivated and dedicated, sir."

"And addle-pated," said Oakes wryly. "Like all fighter jocks."

"Sir, how are you going to keep them from recalling fighters?" asked Bonaire. "I mean, they'll see us coming."

"They'll see the _Nike_ coming," said Oakes cheerfully. "They won't see you."

"I don't understand, sir."

"You'll be hiding."

Bonaire frowned. "It's space, Captain. There's nothing to hide behind out here for a million kilometers or more."

"Not quite true, Commander. When you launch, this is what I want you to do-"

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Nick swallowed as he looked at the sensor panel. There were a whole lot of red dots scattered around. The Drex fighters weren't concentrated- they were on Combat Space Patrol, which he had learned meant they spread out, to cover more space. Still, he counted at least a dozen red dots on his direct course to the planet. "It's going to get a bit hot, Carrots," he said, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice.

"We can do it, Nick," said Judy firmly. "We have to. They're counting on us."

"Uh-huh," said Nick. Three dots peeled off leisurely and started towards the lone fighter. "Do the Drex know that?"

"Unidentified vessel," blared a voice, sounding almost robotic. "Turn back or be destroyed."

Nick keyed the mike. "You can't do that," he said confidently.

There was a pause. "Explain."

Nick hesitated, then shrugged. "We're diplomats. We've got diplomatic immunity."

"Really?" said the voice, sounding a bit dry. "Is that the same as missile immunity? Because if you do not turn back, we will fire on you."

Nick glanced back at Judy. "I don't think this is working."

She pointed at the console. "There's another incoming message."

He saw the blinking light, and shrugged. "Drex fighter, can you hold for one moment? I really got to take this call."

"You're putting me on hold?" said the Drex incredulously, before Nick switched to the other frequency.

"Hustler here."

"Hustler, this is Blue Falcon," said Bonaire urgently. "Look, the captain changed his mind. We're coming to help, but it's going to be a couple of minutes. I need you to stall the Drex fighters that are about to attack you."

"Um, how do you know they're about to attack me?"

"Because they've lit up their search radars and are focused on you like a pack of hunting dogs," said Bonaire. "And they're Drex. Attacking inoffensive little foxes and bunnies is pretty much par for the course for them."

"Hey," protested Nick. "This thing is armed! I'm not inoffensive."

"Maybe don't tell the Drex that?" said Bonaire. "Just stall, Hustler. Help is on the way." There was a pause. "Is Judy listening?"

"I'm here," said the bunny.

"You're right, Judy. We're not alone. And neither are you. Hang in there, guys."

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Bonaire eased her fighter slightly to port, glancing to make sure she wasn't about to collide with her wingman as they mimicked the slow turn the _Nike_ was making. "This is some pretty tricky flying, boys and girls, so stay sharp."

The ship loomed to her right, so close it seemed like she could reach out and touch it. Around her, the entire strike craft contingent flew in ludicrously close formation, so close that a twitch of the joystick could send the whole thing into chaos. She smiled proudly. Only her pilots could pull something like this off.

"All right, listen up. For this operation, we're dividing into three groups- interceptors, fighters, and bombers. Bomber call-sign will be Raider, fighters will be Hawk, and interceptors Falcon." She would be with the interceptors, after all- might as well name them after her. "Individual call-signs are the same."

She carefully nudged the thruster control to stay within the narrow space she'd assigned herself as the _Nike_ finally started to turn towards the Drex- and Terra.

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"Stall them," muttered Nick. "Right."

"How are we going to stall them?" asked Judy. "I mean, you have a plan, right?"

"Um."

The radio buzzed insistently. Nick slapped the button irritably. "Hustler here."

The Drex pilot's voice came on. "All done with your phone call?" he asked solicitously. "I mean, I can wait if you aren't. I've literally nothing better to do out here."

"Oh, you can? Well, that'd be great-"

"Do Terrans not understand sarcasm?" asked the Drex. "Here, let me show you I'm serious."

A loud hum filled the cockpit. Nick swore.

"Language," said Judy remonstratively.

"Really, Carrots? You know what that is, right?"

"No." 

"It's the lock-on warning. They've got us painted with their active sensors. Means they have a missile locked on us." Nick considered going evasive, but- he could maybe dodge one missile. But there were at least three Drex ships locked on him.

"Missile?" Judy said nervously. "Cheese and crackers!"

"Hey! Language," said Nick.

"Sorry- wait, what?"

"Okay, this is doable," said Nick, thinking out loud. "It's just a hustle, right?"

"Turn back now, unidentified craft. You have one minute to comply," said the Drex pilot implacably.

Judy leaned forward. "Okay, so how do we hustle them?"

"Um."

"Nick, you said the first part of a hustle is to figure out what the mark wants, right?" said Judy urgently. "So what do they want?"

"Terra?" Nick shook his head. "I mean, I can't really pretend to give them that-" he stopped.

They probably wanted Terra. But they'd sent a task force far too large for a mere show of force, and far too small for a real invasion. They had what, a hundred thousand troops? Far too few to pacify the whole planet.

"Transmission sites," muttered Nick.

"What?" asked Judy, her ears perking. "What about them?"

"They're destroying transmission sites. Why?"

"To stop us from calling for help?"

"Barker was right, though. Who are we going to call?" His mind raced. "Wait. If they're not worried about us transmitting, they must be worried about someone else."

He heard Judy's sharp intake of breath. "Prometheus."

"He's the only one besides Terrans on Terra," said Nick. He looked back at her. "Carrots- Judy. This is a long shot. If I'm wrong- I just want you to know I love you."

She reached up and touched his shoulder. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears. "I love you, too."

"You have five seconds to comply," said the Drex, sounding bored. "Four. Three."

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Sabinus was still watching the _Nike_ with a frown, but he was half-listening to his pilot warning off the Terrans. It sounded as if they'd be shooting down the Arewing any minute now. At least that would be one less complication-

"Two," said the Drex remorselessly. "One-"

"I know where Prometheus is!" shouted the Terran.

Sabinus froze only briefly before keying his transmitter. "Aleph One-six, weapons tight! Say again, weapons tight!"

The Drex pilot sounded surprised. "Confirm weapons tight, Commander. Sir, why-"

"Shut up, Aleph One-six. Unidentified Terran, confirm last transmission."

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"I know where Prometheus is," said Nick, putting more confidence into his voice. "We're on our way to find him."

There was a long pause. "You're working with him?" asked Sabinus.

Nick glanced back at Judy, who shook her head. He agreed- there was too much suspicion behind that question. "No," answered Nick truthfully. He desperately hoped the Drex weren't allied to the mysterious human-

"Good," said Sabinus crisply. Both Nick and Judy sighed in relief. "If that's the case, then you won't mind my ships tagging along with you. We have our own scores to settle with Prometheus."

"Acknowledged," said Nick. Judy frowned at him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"We can't have them follow us in," she said. "And we still don't know where Prometheus is."

"They don't know that, Carrots," said Nick with more confidence than he felt. "It's called a-"

"Hustle, I know, I know." She shook her head. "Think this will stall them long enough?"

The Drex fighters had settled into position behind him, where they could blow them out of space with a flick of the trigger. "I think it's going to have to."

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Sabinus saw Captain Luciana watching him carefully. "Something the matter, Captain?" he asked.

"Do you really think they know where the primary target is, sir?" she asked pointedly. "It's a trick."

"Then our pilots will shoot them down," said Sabinus with a shrug. "The pilot is a Terran, Luciana. Do you really think he's been trained to fly that ship? Even the humans wouldn't be foolish enough to do such a thing."

She nodded reluctantly. "Yes, sir." She glanced down at her console. "Sir, the _Nike_ is accelerating back towards Terra."

"Very well. Prepare weapons for firing. Turn ship to heading one-eight-zero, negative-" he glanced at the chart- "ten. We'll present them with a broadside as they approach."

"Sir, a broadside will make it harder to defend against missile attack-"

"The _Nike_ has few missile launchers, Captain." Sabinus leaned back in his chair. "They rely on strike craft to launch missiles. And they haven't launched any."

"Yes, sir. New heading, one-eight-zero, negative one-zero."

The massive Drex ship ponderously spun in space. The gunports on her starboard side opened, revealing the kinetic batteries nestled inside.

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"Point of no return," said Oakes quietly.

Tossetti, sitting beside him, gave him an odd look. "Yes, sir. I don't think we have a choice but to engage now," she said.

"Not for us," said Oakes. He smiled.

"For them. Bonaire, you are clear to attack."

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Bonaire smiled broadly. "Rise and shine, boys and girls! Time for you to earn your pay."

She boosted the acceleration and thrusted "up". "Permission to do a fly-by, sir?"

Around her, the rest of the _Nike's_ strike craft complement did the same. A moment before, the strike craft had the bulk of the _Nike_ between them and the Drex, shielding them from both sensors and view. Now, they boosted past the already-accelerating _Nike._ The strike cruiser flashed past her cockpit as she almost skimmed the ship's outer surface.

"Permission not granted," said Oakes dryly. "Though seeing as how you've already done it, I think you meant to ask for forgiveness."

"Don't they say it's always better to ask for foregiveness than permission?"

"Not if you're the Drex," said Oakes. "Go get them, Falcon."

"Yes, sir!"

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"Tactical, Conn. Sir, we are picking up large numbers of multiple contacts on the same heading as the _Nike_ ," said the tactical officer. "Constant bearing, decreasing range. Acceleration and engine signatures make them strike craft."

"What?" said Sabinus. "How-"

"They must have hid behind the _Nike_ ," said Luciana, nodding slowly. "Clever. They launched during that slow turn." She gave a respectful nod to the blip indicating the approaching strike craft. "Damned good flying, to stay in the _Nike's_ sensor shadow like that."

A lack of fear was all well and good, but there were times Sabinus envied the humans' quicker reactions to a situation like this. "Prepare to change heading," he snapped. They needed to present the ship's forward sections to the missile barrage that would soon be heading their way- the point defense was better, as well as providing a smaller target cross-section.

"New heading, yes, sir."

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"I have tone," announced Raider One. "Prepare to launch on my mark."

Bonaire was well ahead of the slower bombers, weighed down by their payloads. She was scanning for- there. A single blue dot, being shadowed by three red ones. "Falcon One to Falcon Two."

"Falcon Two, go."

"Break by squadrons and engage the Drex CSP. Falcon Two-six, you're with me."

"Roger, Falcon One. What's our objective?" asked Two-Six.

"Mission objective?" She smiled as she hit the boost, burning fuel at a prodigious rate to accelerate even faster. "Cover the fox."

"Raider One, mark, mark! Raider One, Fox Five!" shouted the bomber commander.

The radio filled with the sounds of other missile launch reports.

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"Fire broadside!" snapped Sabinus.

"The _Nike_ is not within optimal range," noted Luciana.

"We're not going to get a chance for her to get in optimal range," said Sabinus quietly, noting the ninety-six missile contacts that had separated from the oncoming bombers.

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"Hotel One is firing," said Cho.

"Brace for impact," said Oakes calmly. "They're desperate."

"Drex? Desperate?" Tossetti smiled grimly at him.

"I can't teach them fear," said Oakes. "But I can teach them what it is they should fear."

The ship shook around them as the kinetic broadside of the _Centurion_ struck.

"Grav shields deflected half the shots," said Cho. "Minor damage reported to decks eight and one-seven."

"Casualties?"

"Hull breach on eight. Some losses reported," said Cho after a moment. "Permission to return fire, sir?"

"Stand by." The missiles had almost reached their target. Ninety-six anti-ship missiles was _a lot_. "We may not need to."

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Nick saw the _Nike_ suddenly turn into a whole host of new contacts, and let out a low whistle. "Sly humans," he breathed.

"What?" asked Judy, sounding irritable and nervous. "I don't know how to read this thing."

"The Drex are about to have a very bad day," said Nick. "Which means they probably will try and take it out on us."

"What are we going to do?" asked Judy. "I mean, they're behind us."

Nick smiled and pushed a button, hearing a surprised squeak from his partner as her seat rotated. "Let me introduce you to the rear-firing gun."

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"It's a trap," said Sabinus. "The whole thing was a set-up."

The _Centurion_ was doomed. She had an excellent point-defense suite, but that was designed to defend against an attack launched from long-range, with her own fighters distracting or breaking up the formation of the attacking bombers. Not from a pitch-perfect surprise assault at- in space combat terms- knife-fighting range. But he could still salvage something.

"Aleph One-six, engage that unidentified Arewing."

"Yes, sir," said the pilot.

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Aleph One-six was a Drex, which meant he was fairly unimaginative, at least when it came to things trying to kill him. Everything he'd seen from this Terran pilot indicated he was a rank amateur- he'd barely changed from course, even when missiles were locked on him. For all he could tell, the ship had been on auto-pilot the whole time.

There was a rear gun in the Arewing, he recalled. But it seemed the Terran didn't know that. Or didn't know how to use it.

Bringing up his missile sensors, he heard a low hum as his fighter announced a lock. He smiled with satisfaction and started to depress the firing button-

The ship to his left abruptly exploded. Instinctively, he yawed to port, barely avoiding a string of cannon fire from the Arewing in front of him.

His other wingman peeled off, too. The Arewing abruptly boosted its engines and dove, straight toward the Terran surface below.

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"Oh, my gosh," said Judy, her voice shaky. "Can we not do that again?"

"That was great shooting, Carrots!" said Nick cheerfully. He frowned. "Do what again?"

"That dive," said the bunny. "I don't think I'm cut out for space flight." She sounded a bit woozy.

Nick was suddenly acutely aware that he was seated directly in front of an apparently nauseated bunny. "Um, Carrots, please don't throw up on me."

"Then don't do that again!"

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Bonaire silently cheered as she saw Nick's shots take out the Drex ship, sending the others yawing away in confusion. "Attaboy," she said to herself. Nick boosted and shot towards the planet's surface. "Good evasive," she noted.

"Two six to One. You sure that fox needs us?" The other pilot's voice was dryly amused.

Bonaire saw the other nearby Drex CSP curving towards the Arewing as it shot towards Terra. "He will in a minute. Weapons free."

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Forty-eight bombers had fired two anti-ship missiles apiece.

That was nearly a hundred heavy missiles flying towards the _Centurion_.

The Drex ship was caught, as the metaphor goes, with her pants down. Broadside on, at a low velocity, with barely enough warning to light up the incoming missiles with point defense, ECM, and all the other things that ship commanders hope will keep the booms far away.

All in all, she did surprisingly well.

Fifteen of the missiles were confused by the panoply of ECM- Electronic Counter Measures- the Drex ship deployed. Flares, decoys, and straight up electromagnetic pulses were blasted at the missiles, and even their hardened sensors couldn't defeat them one hundred percent of the time.

The active point defense- small, incredibly rapid-firing cannons- put up a wall of fire that intercepted no fewer than twenty of the _Nike's_ attack. The missiles shattered into balls of flame and twisted metal shrapnel.

Four more missiles failed to detonate, due to either poor design, maintenance, or just the sheer volume of electromagnetic noise overwhelming their detonators. They did only minimal damage when they struck the ship's hull.

That left sixty missiles.

All in all, the _Centurion_ did surprisingly well.

It just wasn't good enough.

Impacts ripped through the thick armor of the Drex strike cruiser, secondary explosions rippling along her hull, throwing out atmosphere, debris, and bodies. The ship shuddered and pitched. Her artificial gravity failed, throwing Sabinus and Luciana into the far wall of the bridge. Alarms screamed as hull breaches vomited great gusts of precious air into the void.

Somehow, the ship was still intact. But the reactor was off-line, weapons were destroyed or inoperable, and the great ship drifted silently in the cold place between the stars.

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"Impact on Hotel One!" shouted Cho. "Multiple missile impacts, target is- she's not breaking up, but I am reading negative reactor, negative weapons emissions! I call that a mission kill, sir!"

"Calm down, Cho," said Oakes, though he was smiling broadly. "We've still got a carrier to deal with. And a bunch of Drex soldiers." He activated the ship's intercom. "La Mancha?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"Are your Marines ready?"

"Yes, sir. Armed to the teeth and ready to kill some Drex!"

"Very good. Because you're up next."


	34. Chapter 33- Hunter's Peace

Chapter 33- Hunter's Peace

"They make a desert and call it peace." Tacitus, _Agricola_

"Zootopia," said Prometheus, his voice thoughtful. "Based on the word 'utopia' of course, with the Terrans' own spin on it."

"Um, yeah. They do that," said Hunter. "They also throw words like 'paw', 'fur', and 'tail' into things, too." He frowned. "Can't really say I understand it."

"A way to differentiate themselves from ancient mankind," said Prometheus dismissively. "In many ways, they resent the technological boost they received from studying the ruins of United Terran culture. But what I was more interested in was the word 'utopia'. Do you know what it means?"

"Paradise," said Tavi, eyeing the wizened figure in the bridge. "A perfectly designed place, where no one suffers." She shrugged. "It's admittedly an aspiration rather than a reality."

"It's not far off in some ways," said Prometheus. "For all the different types of mammals to get along so well- it was not something I anticipated. But the word 'utopia' actually means something quite different, Ms. Tavi." There was a slight pause. "It means, 'no place'."

Hunter frowned. "What's your point?"

"When Thomas More wrote _Utopia_ , it was a satire. He deliberately named it _Utopia_ to show that such a place could not exist. And indeed it could not," said Prometheus. "Because even if you could somehow design the perfect society, it wouldn't last for long. Because what a utopia is, more than anything, is fragile. The slightest touch, the slightest change in circumstances can throw off the delicate balancing act that makes up a society."

"I think Zootopia has survived pretty well so far," said Tavi challengingly. "If it could make it through the Night Howler crisis, and contact with the humans, then it's less fragile then you imagine."

The viewscreens lit up, one by one. Hunter grimaced as he saw cameras at Sahara Square, Savannah Central station, the Rainforest District, Tundratown- almost every section of the city was represented.

All showed scenes of destruction. A building burned in one. Another showed Sahara Square, a Drex unit setting up some sort of large gun which pointed towards the sky. An anti-aircraft weapon of some kind, Hunter assumed.

Tundratown showed the scene of a firefight. It was starting to get dark in Zootopia, so the flashes of gunfire were all that he could see of the participants. The background seemed to be a mansion of some kind. Tavi gasped as she recognized it.

"Mr. Big's mansion," she said softly. She smiled grimly. "And he said he wasn't involved in the gun trade."

"The Drex have control of the majority of the city," said Prometheus. "I estimate there have been between five hundred and one thousand civilian fatalities, with at least five times that number of wounded. Both counts continue to increase."

Tavi closed her eyes. She felt an ache in her heart- those were her people who were being so casually counted. "Why are you showing us this?"

"Because Mr. Hunter needs to know what the stakes are here. Why he must agree to my request."

"What request?" asked Hunter suspiciously. "What do you want from me?"

"There is additional information I must impart," said Prometheus patiently.

"Just tell me-"

"You are about to make a decision that will affect billions, Mr. Hunter. Do you really want to make it with incomplete information?"

Hunter stopped, exchanged a worried look with Tavi. "Okay," he said reluctantly. "Explain."

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To be pinned down under fire was to be unable to move, return fire, or gain real-time intelligence on an enemy position.

Gnumann didn't know any of these technical terms, as his military training consisted of being handed a weapon by a human agent and told that the gods would fight on his side. So far, they hadn't. So while he may not have known the military definition of being pinned down, he was experiencing the reality of it.

Another burst chipped away at the brickwork around him. He looked around desperately, seeing that most of his congregation was in no better shape than he was. A tigress tried to take a shot, and was immediately struck down by the still-unseen Drex foe.

It occurred to him that grenades would have been useful. He made a mental note to request some when the gods came down.

"Fear not," he shouted, deciding to take refuge in something he did understand- motivating his congregation. "The gods will fight on our side!"

"Are they going to do so anytime soon?" asked Thomas, a badger, through gritted teeth. Thomas nestled closer to the wall to Gnumann's right as more shots came at the sound of their voices. "Because right now I'm not sure we're going to have five more minutes of life, much less eternal life."

"Oh, ye of little faith," said Gnumann sorrowfully. He raised his voice. "Hear us, hear us, almighty gods! Lay bare thine arm, and stretch forth thy rod!"

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"They're some kind of fanatics," explained the centurion to Constantinus.

The Drex tribune nodded, peering over the wall shielding him and the centurion from view. "Fanatics, eh? Any real training?"

"No, sir. They walked right into our ambush. We've got them pinned down in that old factory across the plaza." The centurion gestured to a shell-pocked building. Periodically, the heavy machine gun set up to their left strafed it, sending pieces of the old brickwork flying.

"Very well," said Constantinus. "Send two maniples around the flanks. The heavy gun will cover their advance."

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Gnumann felt a miniscule tug at his pants leg. He looked down to see a field mouse regarding him curiously. "Yes?" he said, surprised.

"Who are you guys?" asked the mouse. "You came out of nowhere with all those guns."

"We are the Fellowship of Terra," said Gnumann sententiously. "And this is the time of reckoning. Are you of the Fellowship?"

"Um, no. Do you think you can make these humans go away?"

"They're not humans," said Gnumann angrily. "They are Drex! False gods in the form of the-"

"Okay, okay," said the mouse, holding up his paws. "Look, if they keep going the direction they're going they're going to hit Little Rodentia where my family is. Do you think you can stop them?"

"The strength of our faith shall see us triumph," said Gnumann. He paused as a long burst ripped through the brickwork of the abandoned factory they occupied. Part of him- a small part, swiftly squelched, wondered if the strength of their faith was greater than that of the heavy machine gun the Drex had.

The mouse shrugged, rolling his eyes. "Well, if you're sure, then we won't take out that big gun they have."

"Wait!" said Gnumann as the mouse started to turn away. "What do you mean?"

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Bogo stood near the front desk in the station, listening to his officers report in as they located civilians. "Clawhauser, we cannot take in everyone. Only direct those civilians without any nearby shelter to the station."

"Yes, sir!" answered the cheetah. "Twenty four delta, do you read? Have those civilians shelter in place."

"Okay, but- hang on a sec." A series of shots were heard over the radio. "Contact!" shouted the officer, who was one of the firearms-trained cops. "Drex squad, approximately one hundred meters east of our position." There were more gunshots before the connection cut.

Francine had just put up a map of the surrounding area. Bogo paced over, studied it. "That's only a quarter-mile from the station," he said quietly. "Clawhauser, have them fall back towards the station. Call in any units armed and able to make it back to the station right away."

"Yes, sir." The cheetah started relaying the chief's orders.

Francine shifted her weight nervously. "Any idea how we're going to get out of this, chief?"

Bogo summoned up every bit of confidence he could, which wasn't much. "The Drex won't waste time and manpower digging us out of here," he said. "They'll negotiate first."

The elephant shrugged, her massive shoulders rolling. "If you say so, sir."

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"All squads report ready for drop, colonel," said Major Krieger. He hurried to keep up with the taller La Mancha as the two strode to the ship's hangar bay.

"Very good," said La Mancha absently. He swiped his ID card at the hangar and stepped through.

The vast expanse of the starboard hangar stetched out before them. Half the hangar was full of the Marine drop pods, with a few straggling Marines loading heavy equipment. La Mancha gave them a cursory look, but directed his attention at the other half of the hangar bay. As the two officers entered the bay, dozens of turrets swiveled towards them. La Mancha stopped, a look of satisfaction on his face as he saw the serried ranks of the _Nike's_ armor complement. Twenty four Anaconda class heavy tanks, with an additional forty eight King Cobra light tanks. One of the Anacondas hovered closer.

"Orders, colonel?" asked the tank.

"Unit Alpha One," said La Mancha in greeting. "How are you today?"

There was a slight pause. Krieger coughed. "Sir, the Anacondas do not understand how to respond to pleasantries."

"Really?" said La Mancha, disappointed. "Courtesy is an important aspect of soldiering, Krieger. Please lodge a formal protest with the design board as soon as possible."

"Er- yes, sir," said the long-suffering major.

"Orders, colonel?" repeated the Anaconda woodenly.

"We are about to drop on Zootopia, Unit Alpha One," said La Mancha. "I need every trooper who can hold a gun, so you and your lads will be on fully autonomous mode for this one."

"Acknowledged," said Alpha One. "This unit will be on fully autonomous mode for the operation."

"The enemy is the Drex," continued La Mancha. "We expect large numbers of civilians in the area of operations, and their safety is to be considered at all times."

"Acknowledged. Hostile units are Drex. Colonel, what are the rules of engagement regarding civilians?"

"Protect whenever possible. We're here as liberators," said La Mancha. He turned to Krieger. "It is good to say that for once, isn't it?"

"We liberate human colonies all the time," said Krieger, affronted.

"Yes, but usually all the civilians are dead by the time we do," said La Mancha. "This time, we get to actually save people. Well, mammals." He turned back to the tank. "Any other questions?"

"Rules of engagement regarding the Drex?"

La Mancha mulled the question over, then shrugged. "Kill them all. Let God sort them out."

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Sadowski did a final check of Foxtrot Company's weapons and equipment in the drop-pod. He didn't really need to worry- they'd been through enough that they could turn out in full battle rattle practically in their sleep.

Or maybe not just "practically". "Mick, wake up. We're about to hit vacuum any minute now."

The ship was now in orbit- there was a hell of a dog-fight going on, but Sadowski had gathered that most of the Drex fighters had been caught in atmosphere when the _Nike's_ strike craft contingent had screamed in. The light carrier itself was desperately trying to break orbit to flee, but its days were numbered. That meant the airspace was clear- well, mostly clear. Sadowski figured that was as good as they were going to get.

The Marines had been ordered to prepare for a hot drop. Presumably, they'd be dropping on Zootopia. He was still waiting for confirmation on that.

The gunny sighed as Mick blearily opened his eyes. Situation normal, all fucked up. "Listen up, marines! When we hit dirt, we hit the Drex fast and we hit them hard! We got no planning and almost no intel, so surprise and speed are going to be what wins this one for us." He pointed to Maksimov. "What's going to win this one, Maxie?"

The large Marine confidently hefted his weapon. "Surprise and speed, gunny." He slapped the big gun. "And Anya here."

"Right on," said Sadowski. The drop pod suddenly shifted, moving under their feet. Sadowski grabbed a wall for balance and made his way to his harness, strapping himself in. "One minute to launch," said a disembodied voice. "Good luck, Marines."

"The Fleet needs luck," said Sadowski contemptuously. "The Marines just need a target."

"Oo-rah!" shouted Foxtrot Company.

"Well put, gunny," said La Mancha as he walked in the door. "Hope you don't mind me tagging along. Since you're understrength, you have room for Krieger and me."

"Colonel?" Sadowski blinked. He hadn't even seen the colonel enter the pod. "No, sir, don't mind at all." He paused.. "So where are we dropping?"

"We've identified the main areas of mammal resistance," said La Mancha as the drop pod moved to the launch bay. "We'll be dropping on the ZPD headquarters. They look to be in a spot of bother."

Sadowski sighed. He really didn't understand the officer class's penchant for understatement. "Expected opposition?" he asked without much hope.

He wasn't disappointed in the answer. "Unknown, gunny." La Mancha clapped him on the back. "Don't worry, Sadowski. I have a brilliant plan."

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Constantinus checked left and right, seeing his troops were ready to assault the fanatic mammals' position. "Maniple Aleph and Beta, go!" he shouted over the radio.

The maniples started moving, racing across the street. The tribune frowned, then looked over at the heavy machine gun position. "Give them cover fire!" he shouted.

The gunners were frantically working on their weapon. "Sorry, sir- there was a mouse," said one gunner.

"A mouse?" Constantinus frowned at him in confusion. "So what?"

The gunner was fishing in the gun's action. "He threw something into the action, sir! It's jammed solid!"

"What? What kind of mouse would-" Constantinus blinked as he suddenly remembered that the rodents on this planet were sentient. "Wait, you don't suppose-"

He looked over to their supply of mortar ammunition, just in time to see a group of rodents finish dragging a grenade they had abstracted from somewhere over to it. His eyes widened as they dashed off- carrying the grenade's pin.

"Get down!"

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Gnumann heard a massive explosion, followed by the shrieks of mortar shells lighting off and the loud booms as they detonated. He immediately jumped up and caught sight of a surprised Drex trooper. The gnu's gun barked and the Drex fell.

More shots came from the embattled Fellowship, dropping dozens of Drex in their tracks as they found themselves in the open without covering fire. Gnumann raised his gun above his head.

"Glory to the humans!" he shouted above the roar of battle. "When the gods themselves fight on our side, nothing is impossible!"

Unnoticed, the mouse who had arranged the sneak attack on the Drex looked surprised. "Never been called a god before," he muttered.

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"At the end of what was called the twenty-first century," said Prometheus, "A man named Jasper Stevenson did what many thought would never be done. He discovered the mathemetical laws describing the organization of what we call sapience, of self-awareness. A technology that had never been discovered before or since."

"Uh-huh," said Hunter. "You know we have AI's all over the place? Like Shepherd?"

"All based on Dr. Stevenson's work," said the AI placidly. "Humanity merely copies the basic architecture, making a few minor changes here and there. The true secret of self-organizing intelligence continues to escape you."

"It certainly escapes me," said Hunter. "As does your point."

"Having solved the riddle, Stevenson decided to undertake three project. First, he created the first true artificial intelligence, which were incorporated into the United Terran battleships named after the Greek titans. _Cronus. Rhea._ And-"

" _Prometheus_ ," said Tavi slowly. "You."

"Correct," said Prometheus. "Me."

"The United Terrans pushed back the Larrat and the Karathi," said Khabat, who had been listening. "They imposed peace treaties on them. Peace treaties backed up by sentient, incredibly deadly war machines that the alien races could not possibly match."

"It was a golden age," said Prometheus. "But Stevenson was not done. I landed on Terra, acting as his base of operations and his laboratory. I assisted him in developing the Drex- who were intended to be perfect soldiers- and then, the complex nanite program to uplift the mammals of Terra."

"To uplift-" Hunter frowned. "What? Why?"

"Why?" repeated Prometheus. "Because humanity was alone, Mr. Hunter. The alien races you had met were implacably hostile. There was no other intelligent beings you could converse with, reason with, befriend. Humans needed, quite simply, someone else to talk to." The AI's voice became almost boastful. "I could have designed a program for simply a few species, but why stop there? I designed a program inestimably more complex, vastly more ambitious. I would uplift not just the most intelligent mammals of Terra, but all of them. From the smallest rodent to the largest herbivore. In doing so, I would achieve a diversity that would make humanity the most powerful species in the galaxy."

Khabat stepped forward. "Think about it, Hunter. You'd have the larger creatures like elephants and rhinos, with their brute strength allied to their intelligence. Rabbits and other quick-multiplying creatures would be able to replenish casualties rapidly. Even the rodents- well, just imagine what sentient, tiny creatures could do on a battlefield or in industry."

"I was quite proud of the rodents," said Prometheus. "It was an incredible feat to manage to make them sapient with such a small brain."

Hunter and Tavi exchanged surprised looks. "Okay," said Tavi slowly. "So you created mammals to be- what, companions to humans? Then why did all the humans leave?"

"They didn't leave," corrected Prometheus. His voice became sad, wistful. "They died."

Tavi's eyes widened. "What?" she whispered.

"The nanites I released were programmed with an extremely complex code. So many were needed that it was necessary to make them self-replicating," explained Prometheus. "In addition, the many different species I was changing made it necessary to give them some degree of freedom to self-program."

"Hang on," said Hunter, squinting up at the ceiling. "You're telling me you released a self-replicating, self-programming nanite swarm? I'm just a cop, and even I can tell that was a bad idea."

"The calculations indicated a negative result was a very low-probability outcome," said Prometheus defensively.

"Uh-huh," said Hunter. "So how long did it take before they started killing people?"

"About twenty days. And not just people- the primates were too close to human physiology as well. Even then it was not malicious- they simply attempted to modify humans in various ways. Ways that inevitably resulted in nerve damage and eventual death. In my defense, it worked perfectly for the mammals. They started achieving sentience within five years of the initial release."

"Why didn't you just shut the nanites down?" demanded Tavi.

"I did," said Prometheus. "Approximately 99.99 percent of them shut off. The remainder had identified the shutdown code as a threat- they were programmed with a basic level of self-protection- and recoded themselves to ignore it."

"How many humans survived?" asked Hunter. He felt a bit numb- even though this was all long past, ancient history, he could imagine the fear and terror the nanite swarm had caused.

"Perhaps two million on Terra," said Prometheus. "The colony worlds were unaffected. You must understand, Hunter, I was programmed to first, obey my creator, and second, work to safeguard humanity. It is not something I can choose to do, or not do. The good of humanity is literally the bedrock of my consciousness." The AI's voice was somber. "Can you imagine how I felt when I realized my mistake?"

Hunter shook his head. "Strangely, I'm having trouble empathizing with the ancient artificial intelligence that destroyed most of the humans on my homeworld. Give me a minute." He closed his eyes.

There was a slight pause. Somewhat hesitantly, Prometheus continued. "So when I had realized-"

Hunter raised a hand. "Hang on, almost got the empathy going. Wait for it-"

Prometheus stopped, then after a longer pause started to speak again. "When I had realized-"

"No, it's gone," said Hunter. He opened his eyes. "Let's just assume I can't see your side of the whole 'accidental genocide' thing."

"I'm not asking for understanding, Hunter," said Prometheus in exasperation. "Merely for you to listen."

"You murdered billions- I assume it was billions?- of people," said Hunter. "If you're not looking for justification, what's the point of this?"

"The point, Hunter, is what I am about to come to. Ms. Tavi?"

The mongoose blinked in surprise at being addressed. "Um, yes?"

"Have you ever wondered why the humans would work so hard to exterminate you, then just leave the planet entirely? Leaving you alone to develop your own culture?"

The mongoose frowned. "Well, yeah, I guess. But it all happened so long ago..."

"A long time for you," said Prometheus. "For me, it might as well have happened a mere moment ago. Ms. Tavi, it was not the humans who tried to exterminate you. It was my other creation, my perfect soldiers, my ultimate warriors.

"The Drex."

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Octavius stood in the command center the Drex had put together in the embassy. He scanned the map, noting with satisfaction that all major transmitters on the planet's surface had been destroyed. "It appears the primary mission objective is complete," he said to Sextus, who stood next to him.

The command center hummed with activity, Drex military personnel directing operations across Terra. Now that the transmitters were inactive, it was time for the secondary objective- gaining control of landing zones for the follow-on troops that would be coming. They would soon turn Terra into a fortress world, suitable to defend against the massive human counter-attack that would be coming.

And to act as a springboard for the Drex invasion of Alphacen.

Sextus was about to reply when a Drex centurion suddenly spoke up. "Consul Octavius, we lost contact with _Centurion_. I just made contact with the light carrier _Aeolus_. They report that _Centurion_ has been crippled and is combat-ineffective."

"What?" said Octavius, his eyes widening. He moved to the board displaying the sensor readout of Terran orbital space. He blinked as he saw a contact marked " _Nike_ " on the screen. "Impossible," he breathed.

Sextus stepped up beside him. "Other consuls than you, Octavius, have been defeated by humans doing the 'impossible'," he said, almost gloatingly.

Octavius shot him an annoyed look before turning back to thecenturion manning the console. "Tell _Aeolus_ to break orbit and flee."

"The captain reports that they are being pursued by the _Nike_ ," said the centurion, listening intently to his headset. He looked up at Octavius. "They do not expect to survive."

Octavius looked at Sextus. After a moment, the older Drex gave a slight nod. Octavius sighed. "Open a channel to _Aeolus._ Tell them we are moving up the timetable."

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The Drex moved closer to the ZPD headquarters. Bogo racked his massive, shotgun-like weapon- a custom design from Highfall Armory, on the human worlds- to chamber a round. He peered through one of the glass doors along the front of the station.

Wolferd, holding a carbine next to him, looked at the chief nervously. "Should we give them warning?"

For a moment, the water buffalo considered it. The Drex were moving in a loose skirmish formation across the parking lot, though there were always a few in cover.

Cops gave warnings. Their goal was not to kill, but to capture. Soldiers, on the other hand, were there to destroy the enemy, to stop his capacity for resistance. There was no overkill.

Bogo was a cop, not a soldier. But he recognized that if he warned the Drex, most of them would likely survive- they'd take cover and return fire.

It was not as easy a decision to make as it might have seemed. But on the other hand, his first priority was making sure as many of his officers survived as possible.

"No warning," he said, finally. "They didn't warn us when they landed. We'll return the favor."

The Drex had paused about halfway across the parking lot, scanning the headquarters carefully. Seeing no movement, they began to move again.

"Now!" shouted Bogo. He leaned out and fired, joined by several dozen ZPD officers.

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"The Drex?" repeated Tavi, shocked. "Why would they try to destroy us?"

"Because you were a threat to them," said Prometheus. "As the humans were. The Drex saw themselves as superior, because they were without fear. When the humans were ravaged by the nanite swarm- which did not affect the Drex due to their various enhancements- they saw their chance. Their goal was the precise opposite of Dr. Stevenson's- they _wanted_ to be alone, to be unsurpassed and unrivalled in supremacy. They attacked the humans and the uplifted mammals both."

Hunter's eyes widened. "Then the Human-Mammal War-"

"Was actually the Drex-Mammal War," said Prometheus. "Humans were wiped out by the Drex in the first few days- they were too heavily concentrated in the few places safe from the nanites, easy targets for Drex treachery. It was only after I was able to successfully close both wormholes leading from Terran space that I was able to stop the attacks."

"Stop the attacks?" said Tavi. "How?"

"When I created the code to modify humans to Drex, I was not so foolish as to forget that it was possible for my creations to threaten humanity," said Prometheus. "I did what any responsible inventor would do."

There was a pause. Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Which was-?"

Khabat, who had remained silent, gave an exasperated sigh. "He ensured there was a way to stop them, Zach. A back-door, to use a hacker phrase."

Hunter looked at her quizzically. "I don't understand."

"A kill switch," said Prometheus. "With a powerful enough EM pulse, I can destroy the Drex. I did it to those trapped behind on Terra when I collapsed the wormholes- a few built bunkers from which they hunted mammals, but eventually I successfully destroyed them as well."

"You built them with a self-destruct," said Tavi slowly. "That's what you're saying?"

"Yes," confirmed Prometheus. "And that is why they are here now. To destroy me. To stop any chance of me correcting the mistake I made in creating them."

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"Target is locked," announced Cho. "We have a firing solution."

Oakes smiled grimly. The Drex light carrier had made a run for it, trying to keep Terra beween her and the oncoming human strike cruiser. But they'd run out of space.

"Sir," said his communications officer. "There is a distress signal coming from Hotel Two." Hotel Two was the designation of the Drex carrier. "It seems to be targeted towards the Drex transit point-"

"In a minute," said Oakes. He looked at Cho. "Tactical, Conn. Fire main guns."

"Firing." The ship shuddered as the main kinetic batteries launched, sending shells at what a physicist might describe as a non-trivial fraction of the speed of light at the enemy light carrier. "Impact," announced Cho. "Secondary-"

The view-screen abruptly dimmed as a new star seemed to form in the Terran sky. "Target's reactor has overloaded," said Cho dispassionately. "Confirm target destroyed."

"Bonaire," said Oakes, activating comms with his fighter commander. "Status?"

"Bonaire's a bit busy," said a voice. "This is Rudaski. We've taken out the Drex CSP and are engaging units trying to break atmo."

"Very good. Are we clear to deploy Marines to the planet surface?"

There was a slight pause. "I suppose," said Rudaski reluctantly. "I mean, if we have to."

Oakes rolled his eyes. "Do you have an objection, lieutenant?"

"Well, it seems a shame to let the Marines in on the fun, sir."

 _Pilots,_ thought Oakes ruefully. "Objection noted, lieutenant. Ensure the drop pods are covered for their descent."

He switched over to another frequency. "Colonel."

"Captain," said La Mancha over the comm. "Are we good to go?"

"We are in position for launch."

"All marines are prepped and waiting, sir."

"Very good," said Oakes. He paused. "May I ask what the plan is, colonel?"

"Of course, captain," said La Mancha. "Pancakes."

"Pancakes?"

"With sprinkles," said La Mancha, in what he seemed to think was explanation. "And whipped cream."

"I-" Oakes shook his head and looked at Tossetti. She shrugged.

"He knows what he's doing, sir," said his executive officer.

Oakes sighed. "Very well, confirm pancakes. Godspeed, colonel."

"Thank you, sir! La Mancha out." 

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"In a short period of time, the Drex will control enough of Terra to prepare for much larger landings," said Prometheus. "This is where you come in, Hunter."

"Yeah?" said Hunter, scanning the viewscreens. Tavi tugged at his pants leg, pointed to one. He raised his eyebrows as he recognized the ZPD headquarters. There was a pretty major firefight going on, with Drex troops pushing forward towards the building. "What am I supposed to do?"

"The man you see before you is, as you may have guessed, my creator, Dr. Stevenson," said the AI. "He was affected heavily by the nanites I released. Only by placing him in a form of suspended animation was I able to keep him from dying."

"Uh-huh." Hunter looked at the decrepit figure, noting the soft wheezing sound the corpse-like man made as he breathed. "If that's eternal life, I'll pass."

"Not eternal, clearly," said Prometheus, his tone a bit miffed. "I've been repairing the damage aging has done as quickly as I could, but his time is just about up. If he were awakened now, he'd be dead within minutes."

"Okay," said Hunter slowly. _Dead within minutes_ \- that implied- he frowned, thinking. "So?"

"Without a conscious human overseer, my functions are severely limited," said Prometheus. "I am restricted according to the last orders I received from Dr. Stevenson. I have extensively reinterpreted those orders, and expanded upon them logically, but there are certain steps I cannot carry out. I am unable, for example, send the kill signal to destroy the Drex, because humanity is not directly threatened at present by them. What little autonomy I currently have is solely because my creator is still alive, though barely. All that could be changed if I had a new human overseer."

There was a long silence. Hunter stared at the human in the chair, Dr. Stevenson. His corpse, his mind kept saying, though he still breathed. He turned to look at Khabat. "Is the robot saying what I think he's saying?"

"He wants you as his overseer," confirmed Khabat.

Hunter shrugged. "Okay. So you'll do whatever I say?"

"Not precisely," said Prometheus. "I cannot trust you to act as I have, with only the good of mankind in mind. My programming thus prevents me from allowing you full control of my function."

"Okay," said Hunter. "So what the hell do you want from me?"

"I need an overseer. But I also need to ensure that overseer will act according to the instructions hard-coded into my personality, that the good of humanity comes first. Pandora, come in."

The door behind them slid open again, and Hunter twisted around to see the hulking shape of the wolf they had fought in the Fellowship church step through. Behind her, filling the corridor, was the hulking form of Shepherd. Both of them moved through the doorway, completely blocking any chance of escape.

He jerked back, grabbing Tavi and pulling her behind him. "What the hell?"

Khabat watched the wolf with disinterest. "She's under Prometheus's control, Zach. She won't harm you."

"She was once much like you," confirmed Prometheus. "Self-willed. She was an explorer, several centuries ago. She strayed too close to me, however. I captured her. She was one of many- but the first successful experiment." The AI sighed, which seemed strange to Hunter- it's not like the thing breathed. "So many deaths," said Prometheus regretfully. "But it will be worth it. You see, Hunter, I successfully imprinted my personality onto hers. So her goals and mine are the same."

Hunter stared at the wolf, which watched him dispassionately, and started backing away. "Now wait a minute," he said, holding up his hands. "You're going to turn me into some sort of zombie?"

"You will still be there, Hunter," said Prometheus. "You will still be you. You just will have different goals, different truths that guide you." His voice changed, became smooth, almost seductive. "Don't you wonder what it would be like, Hunter, to _know_ what is right? To have it guide you constantly? To never wonder about whether you're doing the right thing, but to understand it perfectly? To have utter and complete confidence that whatever you're doing is right?"

Hunter froze. "Seems kinda sketchy to me," he managed to say, somewhat hoarsely. "I mean, just because something seems right doesn't mean-"

"It wouldn't _seem_ right," interrupted Khabat. "It will _be_ right. No matter the cost." She took a step towards Hunter. "Zach, you're not stupid. You know that the one, true moral good is survival. That nothing else can be morally right if it doesn't lead towards survival."

"What?" said Tavi angrily. "That's not true!"

"Yes, it is," said Khabat, looking down at her. "Think about it, Tavi. When we debate morality, whose voice is the one we never hear? The dead. That's the problem with pacifism, for example- yes, peace is a wonderful thing. But too much peace means there will be a lack of preparation for war. You are at the mercy of outside forces." She gestured to the viewscreens showing the scenes of destruction around Zootopia. "Is this moral, Tavi? Is this right?"

"It's the Drex doing it," she protested. "Not us."

"You swore an oath to protect and serve, Tavi. Are you fulfilling that oath?" She looked back to Hunter, who was watching her indecisively. "It's time for true peace, Hunter."

"You will be my overseer," said Prometheus. "You are a peace officer, an officer of the law. I will give you an unalterable, unquestionable law. I will give you a peace like none other- a peace within yourself. You and I will, in many ways, become one."

"And what about the mammals of Terra?" asked Hunter shakily. "What do we do with them?"

"As I said," Prometheus answered, "I place controls on my experimental subjects, Hunter. With a human overseer, I will have the capability of overriding their free will. They will be completely subordinate to us. And in so doing they will fulfill their true destiny- to be the servants of mankind."

"What?" said Tavi, her voice fearful. "You're going to- to do to us what you did to Pandora?"

"You are an experiment, Ms. Tavi. One that has gotten out of hand." Prometheus's voice was hard, unfeeling. "Hunter, if he accepts my proposal, will act as the human element I need to activate your own 'back-door', giving him the ability to control you."

"Yeah, I'm refusing," said Hunter briskly. "Well, that was fun. Can I go?"

"It's not so simple, Mr. Hunter. First of all, you always have the option of telling the mammals to live their lives normally, though you would exercise a sort of 'veto' power. But why do that? Hunter, this is what every police officer wants, is it not? You can order the mammals of Terra to be kind and respectful to one another. To seek the greater good, not just their own."

Khabat stepped forward. "Don't you see, Zach? True peace- peace for every mammal. No more worries, no more fears. You can end the prejudice against predators, like your fox friend, by just telling them not to feel it anymore. You can bring your own peace to Terra."

"My peace," said Hunter quietly. "Hunter's peace."

"All you have to do is agree to the personality imprint," said Prometheus. "Khabat will render you unconscious, and I will transfer the relevant portions of my thought patterns to you."

"And then- what if I choose not to do what you say after the, um, imprint?" asked Hunter.

"You won't," said Prometheus confidently. "You will be working under the same assumptions I am. But you will allow me to reach the full range of my capabilities."

 _Author's Note: Lots of exposition. I'm cheating slightly- I've been reading and re-reading this for ages. There are probably still one or two questions you have- rest assured, I'll try and answer them. Hopefully this gets the general idea of Prometheus's motivations across, though._

 _We're getting close to the end here, folks. I'd hoped to finish up this past weekend, but I slowed down a bit (mostly because of this chapter). We'll be getting back to Nick and Judy in the next chapter, too._


	35. Chapter 34-Taking the Bull by the Horns

Chapter 34

The Drex were moving closer.

Inexorably, despite the resistance of the ZPD officers, they continued to push forward. One group would lay down covering fire while others moved forward, using cars for cover. Bogo winced as he saw his own massive truck, smashed to pieces by more bullet impacts than he liked to imagine. "The Drex are going to have a hell of a bill to pay when this is over," he muttered angrily.

Beside him, Francine and McHorn exchanged looks. "I doubt they're too worried about it," said McHorn.

"They will be," growled Bogo. "That truck cost me a fortune. And I don't think my insurance covers combat damage."

The last step of the way to the headquarters building was clear of any potential cover, and it seemed to stall the Drex. Bogo let loose another blast of his weapon, shattering a parked car and sending the Drex behind it sprawling. "I think we're starting to hold them-"

From behind the Drex force, there was a sudden loud whine. Bogo's ears flattened as he recognized the sound. "That's a hover tank-"

The tank looked something like Shepherd, but was slightly smaller. Unlike Shepherd, however, the front had a rotary gun turret on it. "What is that?" said the chief, shaken.

Scruggs popped his head up for a quick look through a window nearby, ducking as his movement attracted fire. "It's a Reaper-class mobile anti-aircraft gun," he said. "Fires about a thousand high-velocity rounds a minute."

Bogo turned to stare at him incredulously. "It's a-" he stopped as the rotary gun on the armored vehicle started to spin up. "Everyone down!"

He hit the floor as a sound like an acre of cloth being ripped in half filled his ears. The few remaining windows on the part of the building facing the Drex shattered. Holes appeared in the walls, moonlight shining through, highlighting the brick dust and plaster ripped loose from the walls. The elevator behind Bogo took multiple direct hits, sagging and then dropping two stories to smash into the ground below.

Still the gun fired, the shells exploding as they struck. Clawhauser's desk disintegrated, the cheetah scrambling to safety behind the central column in the station just before the impacts ripped his work-station apart.

After what seemed an eternity, the gun stopped firing. Bogo looked out, his eyes widening as he saw the tank lurching forward. Straight towards the lobby.

Engines roaring, the tank smashed through the glass doors of the lobby, showering police mammals with glass and debris. Delgato was knocked sprawling, the lion going limp as his head struck the floor. The tank swiveled towards him and the gun started to spin again.

Bogo leapt to his feet. "McHorn, Pennington! With me!" He charged at the tank.

The tank's operator must have spotted the three large mammals rushing him, because it started to rotate towards them. He couldn't have been too concerned- three infantry charging a tank, without any real explosives or anti-tank weapons, wouldn't have ordinarily been a significant threat.

Of course, that was true of _human_ infantry.

The tank was hovering slightly off the floor of the lobby. Bogo grabbed the side of the tank and, joined by Francine and McHorn, threw all his strength into lifting. The combined strength of a water buffalo, rhinoceros, and elephant easily overwhelmed the tank, massive as it was. The three mammals let out explosive grunts as they heaved.

The tank flipped over.

The anti-gravity was designed to provide lift from a certain direction. Facing the wrong way, the weight of the armored vehicle was suddenly all on the top, which it emphatically was not designed for.

The top hatch crumpled. The gun's multiple barrels, never designed to support the tank's weight, bent in half.

There was a long, low whine as the tank shut down.

Delgato woozily pushed himself up, seeing Bogo, Francine, and McHorn standing over the wreckage of the armored vehicle. "Oh," he said to himself. "That's why they made him chief."

A burst of fire narrowly missed the three large mammal officers, and they rushed for cover. McHorn grabbed Delgato, dragging the lion to cover as he ran.

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Outside, the Drex unit commander slowly picked up his radio.

"Be advised, the Terrans just destroyed a Reaper in hand-to-hand combat," he said.

There was a long pause. "Say again, Gimel Four-five?"

"You heard me."

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Nick pulled up on the stick as they approached the ground, the belly of the Arewing scraping against some of the taller trees below.

Behind him, Judy gulped. "Did we have to do that?" she asked.

"I thought you said I couldn't dive," said Nick, annoyed. "Now I can't pull up?"

"Can't you fly a little more sedately?"

Nick glanced at the sensor display, noted the two Drex fighters rapidly catching up with them. "Not if you don't want to lose more than your lunch, Carrots."

He spotted a break in the trees- a river, cutting through the forest. He banked and dropped even lower, below treetop height, so close the ship's wake threw up waves from the water below. "Okay," he said with relief. "I think we lost them."

The left bank of the river exploded as high-velocity shells tore into it. Nick instinctively twitched the fighter away, narrowly being missed by the stream of fire. Behind him, he saw the Drex- just one. The other one was flying high, probably, in case he tried to pull up again. "I really shouldn't say things like that," he muttered.

"No kidding," said Judy, behind him. "Hang on a sec-"

She triggered off a burst, blasting steam from the water in front of the pursuing Drex. The enemy fighter fell back slightly. "So what's the plan?"

"Well, the river leads to Zootopia. I thought we'd head there first."

"Okay, and do what, exactly? It's kind of a warzone."

"Tavi said she was going after Hunter, right?" said Nick. "So we get into contact with her, and then she tells us where Hunter is. Then we rescue Hunter, stop Prometheus, and it's home in time for breakfast."

Judy fired another burst, causing the Drex fighter to slow even further. "That seems awfully optimistic," she noted.

"Hey, it could happen."

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Bonaire swore as the dot indicating Nick and Judy's Arewing dropped off her scanner. Then she blinked as she noted no explosion, no indication of a crash. They'd just dropped below tree level- flying along a river-

"Sly fox," she said approvingly. "Although-"

One Drex ship had followed them in- there was little she could do about that now. The other was flying high cover, prepared to pounce on the fox and rabbit when they broke free of the canopy. She targeted it with a passive-sensor missile- no point in going active sensor on it, as the enemy fighter would easily detect the signature and evade.

She was still out of range. She took a moment to look over the sensors and see how the rest of the battle was going.

Rudaski had things well under control- the Drex had been caught in low orbit or atmosphere, and were completely unprepared for the human fighters diving on them. Most were destroyed, and the few remainder were fighting desperately just to stay alive. Rudaski had even ordered some of the fighters to prepare for close-air support for the Marines.

Speaking of which- a host of new contacts had appeared. Marine drop ships.

Bonaire spotted the closest drop ships, streaking down like meteors in the night sky. Headed for Zootopia.

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Destroying the tank had given the Drex pause, but not for long enough. Already, the ZPD headquarters was being systematically chewed apart by sustained fire. Bogo huddled behind a far wall- the front wall having taken on a resemblance to Swiss cheese. Swiss cheese attacked by a hungry mouse.

"I'm starting to worry about the integrity of the building," said Scruggs matter-of-factly.

"I'm starting to worry about the integrity of my skin," muttered McHorn. He glanced at Bogo. "Maybe we should surrender?"

The chief started to snap at McHorn, but then paused.

They were completely suppressed- none of his officers had been able to return fire for the last ten minutes at least. Some were running out of ammunition- no one had anticipated a sustained firefight of this magnitude.

Another wall crumbled, and the ceiling sagged ominously. Reluctantly, Bogo had to admit they had little other option. "Clawhauser," he began. "Signal the Drex-"

Before he could finish, the cheetah grasped his arm. "Sir! Look up there!"

A large section of the front wall was missing, and through it Bogo could see clear night sky. He frowned as he looked up, seeing several bright streaks that seemed to be getting larger and larger. "What are those?"

It was Scruggs who answered, staring up at the sky in awe. "Drop ships," he whispered.

"What?" said Francine. "What's a drop ship?"

"It's how human Marines land," said Scruggs. "They're coming." He sounded disbelieving, his eyes wide as he watched the ships grow ever larger. "I can't believe it, but they're coming."

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Nick realized he was about to break through the screening trees. He knew there was a Drex fighter waiting to jump him as soon as he did- but if he slowed down he'd be easy prey for the one trailing him.

"Time to roll the dice," he muttered.

"You know, if you had gone to a real flight school," said Judy worriedly, "They'd have told you never to say things like that if you're the pilot."

"Thanks, Carrots. I'll keep that in mind." He activated the engine boost, radically increasing his speed as he shot out from under the cover of the trees.

Immediately a warning hum filled his headset. A missile lock. He looked around wildly, spotting the Drex fighter coming in.

He'd rolled the dice, all right. Snake eyes.

Even as he finished the thought, he noticed a vapor trail streaking toward the Drex. A moment later there was an explosion that engulfed the enemy fighter.

"Hey, Hustler," said Bonaire over his radio. "Miss me?"

Nick sagged in sudden relief. "Miss you? Next time I see you I'll kiss you!"

Judy cleared her throat behind him.

"In a friendly way," he added quickly. "Like a friend."

"I'll settle for a beer," said Bonaire. "So where are we headed- oh, shit!"

Nick spotted the problem immediately. The fighter that had been following them shot out from under the trees, immediately angling up towards Bonaire. "Judy, take him out!" he shouted.

The rear gun blasted into the Drex, ripping off a wing, sending the fighter spiralling toward the ground below.

"Good shot!" said Nick approvingly. "You okay, Bonaire?"

"Well," said the human, a bit breathlessly. "I guess I should be thankful."

"Now we owe each other a beer," said Nick.

"Call it even, then. So where to now?"

"Zootopia," said Nick. "We've got friends there that can help."

"Fair enough. Though I think it'll be a toss-up who will be helping whom." Bonaire's fighter settled in behind and to the left of them. Her wingman flew higher, covering the lower-flying Arewings.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The problem with landing a force in a city, with active combat on-going, with little intel, and next to no planning was-

Well, it wasn't that there was just one problem. There were _lots_ of problems.

Still, orders were orders. And the Marines had taken a shine to the Terrans. They wanted to help. So at least morale was high.

The drop ship rocked as it punched through the atmosphere, a shrill shriek growing in pitch as they shot towards the surface below. Krieger tightened his grip on his rifle. He glanced over at his colonel, who was singing "Toreador" from _Carmen._

" _C'est la fete des gens de co,_ " he sang. " _Allons! En garde! Allons! Allons! Ah!".*_

The Marines, who were used to their colonel's eccentricities, joined in.

" _Toreador, en garde! Toreador! Toreador! Et songe bien, oui, songe en combattant..."**_

The shriek suddenly died away and the ship lurched as the retro thrusters cut in, dropping their speed. So rapidly did they decelerate that only the inertial compensators integral to the drop pod kept them from smashing against the ceiling, restraints or no. Deceleration didn't cut in until they had almost landed.

They could have landed outside the city- and probably had to fight their way in, against an enemy in built-up terrain.

They could have landed in one of the few areas where the Drex were known not to be. They would have been scattered, however, and forced to navigate an unfamiliar city to find the enemy. By the time they found the Drex, it seemed unlikely they'd save any Terrans at all, at least none who resisted. And again, the Drex would have time to get ready for them.

The only intel that was certain was where the fighting was- the Drex couldn't maneuver in combat and hope to hide from the _Nike's_ sensors at the same time.

Hence, pancakes.

With sprinkles. And whipped cream.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Where are they landing?" wondered Bogo aloud. The streaks of light that indicated the human drop ships grew larger and larger, scarcely moving. As if they were coming right toward them-

He flinched further into cover as two Human fighters shot over the Drex in the headquarters parking lot. He heard a shrill sound followed almost immediately by a rather pathetic explosion. Fire from outside slackened, and he risked a look.

Small, spherical objects could be seen blanketing the area the Drex were in. La Mancha referred to them as "sprinkles".

Most military personnel referred to them as cluster bombs, or more specifically, bomblets.

Bogo ducked again as a series of explosions rocked the parking lot, as the cluster bomblets went off. Shrapnel slapped against the side of the headquarters building, some of it even penetrating the thick walls. He could feel the concussions of the explosions, even inside.

What it must be doing to the Drex, practically in the open-

There was a dull _whomp_ as Bogo's truck, the fuel tank holed in multiple places, caught fire and exploded. Screams could be heard from a Drex who had been taking cover behind the truck.

Bogo frowned. "Dammit."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Ten seconds to landing!" shouted Sadowski.

" _Tout d'un coup, on fait silence,"_ sang La Mancha. Unlike the other Marines, he was dressed in the full regalia of a colonel of Fleet Marines. Peaked cap, long overcoat, impeccably shined boots, pressed trousers- all black with gold piping. He'd stick out like a sore thumb on a battlefield, but it was his reasoning that if the opposition was trying to shoot him, they weren't shooting at his Marines. " _Ah! Que se passe-t-il?"***_

"Three- two- one-"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The glow of the drop ship grew brighter, and brighter, until-

"It's going to land right on us!" shouted Scruggs in shock.

He was incorrect- when the massive pod struck, it landed directly in the Drex formation, what was left of it. The impact flattened the cars in the parking lot directly under it, and the displaced air was moved violently aside, throwing surrounding cars away in a wave. Drex who were too close were bowled over like nine-pins.

The drop pod was roughly the shape of an onion, with a broad bottom tapering to a near-point at the top. And like an onion, it had layers. The outer layers dropped down, forming ramps in a three hundred and sixty degree radius around the pod.

And also like an onion, when it opens up, you might just cry.

Marines leapt out, firing at the stunned and bleeding Drex as they came.

Four, spaced roughly equidistant, were armed with flamethrowers, blasting a flaming gel across the few Drex who had managed to find cover in the mayhem. La Mancha considered it close enough to whipped cream to suit his analogy.

Drex feared nothing. But from an early age, they had been taught to respect fire, and fire was what the Marines were bringing.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As the ship smashed into a landing, La Mancha sang.

" _Plus de cris, c'est l'instant!_ _  
_ _Plus de cris, c'est l'instant!_ _  
_ _le taureau s'elance_ _  
_ _En bondissant hors du Toril!_ _  
_ _Il s'elance! Il entre,_ _  
_ _Il frappe! un cheval roule,_ _  
_ _Entrainant un Picador."****_

He calmly unbuckled himself as with a roar of "Ooh-rah!", the Marines charged into the attack.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mick leapt out of the drop pod, his pulse racing and his rifle pointed. He spotted a movement and traversed to his right, dropping the Drex- an officer, he guessed- with a three round burst.

A round struck his armor, glancing off but still spinning him around. He glimpsed a second Drex, one arm scorched and hanging limply, firing one-handed from behind a shattered car.

Maksimov, behind and to his right, fired a burst and the Drex went down.

"Good shot," panted Mick as he got to his feet. They both ran to the nearest cover, scanning their sector. A Drex trooper crawled towards an overturned vehicle, and both fired. The Drex jerked and went limp. "Tell Anya she did a good job."

"Anya always does good job," said Maksimov proudly. "Is good gun."

They heard more shots, then a sudden silence other than the crackle of flames as the areas the flamethrower crews had torched burned. "Sector clear," reported Mick, not stopping his scanning.

"Clear!" shouted another Marine.

"Clear!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bogo stood up, not believing his eyes.

Where something like a hundred Drex had been, there was near-silence. The Human Marines expanded their perimeter. Periodically a shot would ring out, as an insufficiently-dead Drex was located.

A tall human, his long coat just avoiding sweeping the ground, adjusted a tall peaked cap as he made his way across the parking lot. A pistol- still holstered- bumped against his side. His boots crunched on broken glass as he approached the building.

The water buffalo shouldered his shotgun and stepped out to meet him.

The human stopped and rendered a perfect salute. "Chief Bogo, I presume? Colonel Alonzo Gomez Rodolfo de Santa Domingo de los Estados Unidos y la Mancha, at your service."

Bogo blinked at him. "That whole thing was your name?"

"Yes, chief. Colonel Alonzo Gomez Rodolfo-"

"How about I just call you colonel?" said Bogo. He frowned as he heard another shot. "What are your men doing?"

"Finishing off the wounded," said La Mancha composedly. "Now, I understand you have a small fighting force-"

"They're what?" shouted Bogo. "Tell them to stop!"

La Mancha looked puzzled. "Why?"

"It's- it's barbaric!"

"So are the Drex," said La Mancha with a shrug. "And they have no fear. If they aren't finished off, they will continue to try and attack us." He sighed. "It is their way. They never surrender."

"Do you give them a chance?" demanded Bogo.

"Not anymore, chief."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Okay, so we're going to Zootopia," said Bonaire over the radio. "We'll take top cover, you guys stay low."

"Why?" asked Nick curiously. "Isn't it safer to be up high?"

"Ordinarily, yes," said Bonaire. "Because you're a rookie pilot and there's more stuff down there you could accidentally run into. But because the Drex have mostly started to go up to engage our strike craft, you're likely safer down there from things deliberately trying to run into you."

"Point taken," said Nick. He looked ahead as the city raced toward him.

Overall, it didn't look too bad from up here. Oh, there were a few columns of smoke here and there. But the city looked fairly peaceful- except-

"What are those?" asked Judy from behind him. "Are they bombs?"

Nick spotted the streaks of light, impacting across the city. "No-o," he said, somewhat uncertainly. "They're too slow. And they're decelerating."

"Oh, those are way more dangerous than bombs," said Bonaire. "Those are Marines."

"Marines- you mean those are landing craft?" Nick winced as tracers met with one of the descending objects, which disappeared in a flash of light and smoke.

"Yeah," said Bonaire. Her voice sounded somber, even respectful. "Looks like they're landing directly on the combat zones. I guess it's true what they say about Marines."

"What's that?" asked Judy, her voice hushed as she watched the drop pods landing in her city.

"You don't have to be crazy to be one, but it's worth about ten points on the promotional exam if you are." Bonaire's voice was rueful. "I'd guess this plan is La Mancha's doing."

Nick had been working to get a signal through the comms console of the fighter, and he suddenly blinked as the light turned green. "Hey, I've managed to patch into the cell network," he announced. "I can call the station from here."

"Station's lines are probably down," said Bonaire. "Better to call someone you know."

"Uh- I don't know anyone's number," said Nick.

Judy sighed. "Yes, you do. You call other police mammals all the time."

"All the numbers are on my cell phone! I don't remember them!"

"Try this one," said Judy. Nick entered the number into the computer, which- had it been a more advanced AI- would have been wondering why it was being asked to make a phone call over a civilian network.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Clawhauser watched as Bogo and the human colonel argued. Well, Bogo argued. The human more or less ignored him, directing the human Marines- who had been joined by a larger number from another drop pod- as they set up defensive positions.

His cell phone rang. Puzzled, he looked at it.

"Unknown number?" Fine time for a sales call. Or- he shrugged and answered.

"Hello?"

"Benjamin!" said Nick with relief. His voice sounded strange, attenuated. "Where's Tavi and Hunter?"

The cheetah looked around. "Um, I don't know. Not here?"

"Well, I know that," said Nick, annoyed. "Hunter was kidnapped. Tavi went after him."

"What?" said Clawhauser. "Kidnapped by who?"

"By whom," said Scruggs, standing nearby. "And who was kidnapped? Besides Hunter, I mean?"

"You knew about this?" said the cheetah. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was going to," said Scruggs. "But then we were attacked by an alien invasion! I had a lot on my mind!"

"Is that Scruggs?" demanded Nick. "Let me talk to him."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Okay, thanks, Scruggs," said Nick. He cut the connection.

They were flying over the eastern half of Zootopia, Bonaire and her wingman still well above them. "He says he tracked Tavi to the Deadlands," explained Nick. "Towards the Great Crater. Then she said Shepherd had found her and he lost contact."

"The Crater," said Judy pensively. "It makes sense."

"It does?"

"That place is super radioactive. Where better to hide a secret base?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe anywhere? Anywhere that's not super radioactive, at least?"

Judy shook her head. "Think about it, Nick. It's radioactive. So no one goes there. And didn't you say the radiation should have died out long ago? Maybe it's deliberate."

Nick slowly nodded. "Right. So-"

"So we're going to the Deadlands."

"The Deadlands," repeated Bonaire after they talked to her. "What part of that seems like a good idea? Because anywhere called the Deadlands sounds like a place to avoid. Like a bar called the Drunken Wino."

"That can't be a real bar," said Nick.

"Oh, it's great. They have sawdust on the floor and everything. Sometimes it's for the vomit, but mostly it's for the blood."

"Anyway," said Judy, breaking in. "It's got to be where Hunter is. And Prometheus."

There was a pause. "All right," said Bonaire. "Off we go to the Deadlands. What fun you two are. Next time, maybe we can just go see a movie?"

"Let's hope there is a next time," muttered Nick.

Suddenly, their sensor console beeped insistently. "You just had to say that, didn't you, Hustler?" said Bonaire. More crisply, she spoke again. "Contact, contact. Six contacts, constant bearing decreasing range, approaching from one-zero-six degrees, fifty angels. Classify as Drex fighters, _Frog_ class."

" _Frog_?"

"Don't let the name fool you," warned Bonaire. "They're dangerous. Hustler, go low. We'll go high, keep them off your tail."

"Bonaire-"

"Get to the objective, Nick. We'll do what we can."

 _Author's Note: The translations for the French parts are below._

 _I apologize for the slow update schedule- this time of year is rough for me, work-wise. And it got a bit worse because of an extra project I've been assigned. I really had hoped to have this done before Christmas- as it stands, it'll probably be the New Year before I get finished. It's getting towards the end- but I'm having real trouble with motivation- just so damned tired these days. Just hang in there, guys- I'll get it done as quick as I can._

 _*_ It is the celebration of people with heart! _  
_Let's go, on guard! Let's go! Let's go! Ah!

 _**_ Toreador, on guard! Toreador, Toreador! _  
_And dream away, yes, dream in combat...

 _***_ All of a sudden, it is silent... _  
_Ah, what is happening?

 _****_ More cries! It is the moment! _  
_More cries! It is the moment! _  
_The bull throws himself out _  
_Bounding out of the bullpin! _  
_He throws himself out! He enters. _  
_He strikes! A horse rolls, _  
_Dragging a picador,


	36. Chapter 35- From Bad to Worse

Chapter 35 From Bad to Worse

"It not only can get worse, it probably already has by the time you get there." -Hunter's Rule 20

"Okay," said Bonaire over the radio. "Here's the plan. If they bounce us in the open, we're screwed- they've got the altitude and positioning advantage. Stay near the city- when they start to get locks on you, run for cover in the skyscrapers."

"Wow," said Nick. "That's incredibly dangerous."

"We're really well into the territory of 'lesser of two evils" here, Hustler. Just remember to fly around the buildings, not through them."

"Noted. Around, not through."

"I hate flying," muttered Judy.

"When I give the signal, break cover and head for the Deadlands, if you still think that's a good idea."

Nick was already adjusting his course, in a gentle curve towards Zootopia's downtown area. "What's the signal?"

"Probably something along the lines of 'oh, shit'," said Bonaire dryly. "The way things are going."

The enemy fighters continued to bore in on the trio of strike craft. Bonaire and her wingman both boosted higher, then swung around to meet them head-to-head. Nick applied his own engine boost, kicking him and Judy back into their seats. Judy let out a groan and closed her eyes. She quickly opened them again as that just made her feel queasier. "I really, really hate flying," she said again.

Nick eyed the buildings they were flying towards and mentally mapped out a path through them. He considered the twists and turns they were about to make. "Not as much as you're about to," he said.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bogo marched into the station's lock-up, La Mancha following curiously behind him. Krieger was back in the lobby of the station, setting up a miniature command post as Marines continued to land across the city.

The chief stepped into the holding area and gestured at the cells. "There!" he announced. "They can be made prisoner."

La Mancha blinked as he took in the surprised faces of the Drex praetorians who had been disarmed and captured in their initial attempt to take over the Zootopian Police headquarters. He stepped closer to one, studying him intently. "Remarkable," he murmured.

The Drex eyed him arrogantly before transferring his gaze to Bogo. "Couldn't bear to do your own dirty work, mammal?" he said. "Had to bring in the humans to finish the job?" He raised his chin defiantly. "I have no fear, human. I will show you how a Drex dies."

"In my experience," said La Mancha, "They die much like everyone else. Messily and with lots of screaming." He shook his head. "How is it that you were captured?"

The Drex hesitated. "There was no point in continued resistance," he said. "Besides, we will soon be liberated by our forces."

"Maybe before," said La Mancha. "But the Marines have landed now. Your forces are scattered and disorganized. Your fleet in orbit is so much dust, so you have no orbital support." He regarded the Drex thoughtfully. "Tell me, Drex. Just what were you trying to accomplish? Your invasion pattern makes no sense- the only clear targets you've had are the more powerful transmitters on the planet."

The Drex looked away and remained silent.

"Sir?" Krieger poked his head in the room. "Sir, we've got a problem."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Gneumann had led his flock across a fair amount of the city by now, and after destroying that one small group of Drex had yet to meet another of the hated foe. It hadn't occurred to him that martyrdom would be so hard. He had sort of assumed that the Drex devils would come to him, not that he'd actually have to seek them out.

A fair few of his congregation had quietly disappeared. He had expected as much, though he still felt a pang of sorrow and contempt for those who would desert at the very hour of triumph. Their faith was weak.

The rodents that had helped him defeat the first Drex contingent were gone as well. He was less sure about where they would stand in the hour of judgment. Sure, they had been of great assistance, but they had not stayed the course- it seemed wrong to lump them in with the mammals who did nothing or even assisted the Drex, but still-

Gneumann was on the verge of inventing the concept of Purgatory when gunfire erupted to his front, interrupting his theological musings. "Everyone down!" he shouted.

In short order, those who had survived the first contact with the new Drex contingent were pinned down once again. The only reason they were still alive was that the Drex had blundered into them, rather than setting up a true ambush or meeting engagement. They'd even managed to inflict a few casualties on the Drex, their human weaponry more than equal to defeating the Drex armor.

Gneumann managed to make it to the dubious cover of a small ice cream store, huddling with some other holy warriors behind the counter. One was covered in raspberry ice cream, courtesy of a bullet that had exploded the container above him. It occurred to Gneumann that holy war was not always as glorious as it should have been.

"What do we do now?" asked his ice-creamed congregant. "I'm freezing," he added.

A coyote poked his head above the counter, and pulled it down instantly as a shower of bullets nearly took it off. "I think they've seen us."

There was a sudden roar, then a bang, then a series of explosions that rocked the store. The concussion threw the remaining vats of ice cream on top of the surprised mammals.

After that, there was a sudden silence, broken only by the screams of the wounded, and then-

"Oo-rah!"

Gneumann, wiping pistachio ice cream from the fur around his muzzle and eyes, looked up to see a Drex soldier firing at an unseen foe around the street corner. The Drex was hit and fell, scrabbled to get up, was hit again and was still.

"The angels have come," he breathed. "The angels of the gods have come!" he repeated, more loudly.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Corporal Kamau was a remarkably quiet, unambitious man, particularly for a Human Stars Marine. He wanted to do his tour, go home, and help his family run the small furniture business they'd run for generations. He didn't hate the Drex, though he wouldn't lose any sleep over killing them either. He just wanted to get this latest job done so he'd be one step closer to finishing his mandatory term of service.

The last of the Drex were dead or had retreated from the landing zone. Already, his company was spreading out, securing the buildings around them. With the fighting almost done, some of the Zootopians were coming out. Kamau blinked as a baby elephant shyly waved at him from a nearby building. Hesitantly, he waved back.

Perhaps that was why Gneumann chose Kamau to approach. The wildebeest, wielding all the dignity he could muster while covered in a mixture of pistachio and banana-flavored ice cream, stepped out to greet the human Marine.

"Greetings, oh angel of the gods. We, the true followers of your divine ways, have come to serve you." With that, he dropped to one knee, followed by the few remaining of his congregation behind him.

Kamau stared at the gnu, then broadened his gaze to take in the other mammals. He glanced over his shoulder.

"Sergeant?"

Sergeant Exley glanced at him, did a double-take when he saw the kneeling mammals, and jogged over. "What's going on, Kamau?" He frowned at the ice cream-covered mammals. "Okay," he said, almost to himself. "I knew we had to expect some bizarre customs, but covering themselves in ice cream?"

"It takes all kinds," said Kamau doubtfully.

"We are your loyal servants," said Gneumann hastily. "Come to offer our services in liberating our planet from the Drex demons."

"Okay," said Exley slowly. "So, local resistance fighters. We have a policy for that. Do you know who we are?"

"Angels of the gods," said Gneumann firmly.

Kamau and Exley exchanged a look. "That's a no," said Exley. "No one who thinks Marines are angels could possibly know anything about us." He reached a decision. "Kamau, disarm these civilians and take them into custody. They'll be safer that way."

"But-" began Gneumann. He stopped as a few other Marines who had come their way raised their weapons. "We serve the true gods, the humans!" he protested, somewhat weakly.

"Never been called a god before," said Kamau musingly as he took Gneumann's weapon from his unresisting paws. "But sarge is right. If you think we're gods, you're nuts." He glanced at a tiger who had been under the toppings tray when it was hit with an explosive round. "Or covered in nuts, as the case may be."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Yes, sir," said Oakes, keeping his voice measured and calm. "The Drex attacked Terra. I was responding to their aggression when I fired on them."

He was speaking over an insanely expensive direct connection with AlphaCen, to Sector Admiral Pritchard, his immediate superior.

Pritchard sighed. "It wouldn't be Monday if at least one of my captains didn't start a war. What's your current status?"

"We have control of Terran space, sir. The Drex strike cruiser is still intact, but combat-ineffective. The light carrier has been destroyed. We've eliminated almost all the remaining strike craft except for some skirmishing in the planet's atmosphere. My Marines have taken control of most of Zootopia and are currently working to consolidate."

"What of the remaining Drex troops?"

"They've landed in various areas around the world, sir. Since we have control of space, they can't redeploy effectively. We've been bombarding any units far from urban centers, but those in cities and built-up regions we'll have to dig out." He took a deep breath. "We're going to need reinforcement, sir."

There was a long pause. Tossetti gave him a concerned look, but he kept his face calm. The next few seconds would decide his destiny- and that of Terra.

At last, the admiral spoke. "We've had a contingency plan in place for such an occurrence," he said, almost reluctantly. "I'm activating the Fifth Fleet. They'll be able to reach you in about two weeks. In the meantime, hold Terran space as best you can and start making contact with Terran government personnel if possible."

"Yes, sir," said Oakes, his heart starting to beat again. The bridge crew broke into grins around him. "Contact government personnel, sir?"

Pritchard's voice was very somber. "They can't dilly-dally on the fence anymore, Oakes. If we're going to protect them from the Drex, then they're going to have to toe the line. I want you to collect as many high-ranking members of their government as you can. Those that will cooperate will help us make the planet into a protectorate under Human Stars control. Those that won't- will be dealt with."

The grins rapidly faded, but Oakes knew that, as of now, this was the best deal the Terrans were going to get. "Yes, sir," he acknowledged.

"Pritchard out."

Tossetti caught his eye. "Sir," she said, quietly so the rest of the bridge couldn't hear. "It seems we'll be replacing one set of invaders with another."

"We're better than the Drex," said Oakes tiredly. He raised a hand to forestall Tossetti's protest. "I'm not happy about it either. I want the Terrans to be on-side with us, but I'd rather they did it of their own free will. But I'd rather them be a protectorate under us than slaves to the Drex."

Tossetti hesitated, but nodded reluctantly. "Yes, sir."

"Conn, sensors." The officer's voice rose slightly. "Contacts, multiple contacts. Transit signatures from the Drex wormhole- sir, they keep rising. We're up to fifteen and counting- twenty- thirty-"

Oakes half-rose from his seat. "Types?"

"Up to forty- sir, Drex military ships, multiple types. I've got three carriers, five strike cruisers-" the sensors officer went pale and looked back at Oakes. "Sir, one classifies as the _Imperator_."

The Drex flagship. Oakes scanned the sensor readouts desperately. "This must be half their fleet," he said in shock. "They must have had them waiting just beyond the wormhole."

"That signal the carrier sent- it wasn't just a distress signal," said Tossetti in realization. "They were signalling the rest of the fleet to come through."

Oakes sat down, forcing himself to calm down as he studied the tactical screen. "Recall all fighters," he said quietly. "Helm, plot a course to the Wolf 359 wormhole."

No one argued this time. The force that was coming was far, far more than the _Nike_ could hope to take on, even for a moment.

"Sir, the Marines-" said Tossetti.

"Even if we had time to recover them," said Oakes, "They'd just be up on the ship when we got destroyed. Tell them to hold as long as they can."

"Strike craft are launching," said Tactical. His voice held a note of awe. "I've never seen so many fighters," he breathed.

"Maintain correct protocol, lieutenant," snapped Oakes. He scanned his display. "Their screening force is detaching to block us from the wormhole."

Tossetti nodded as she looked over her own screen. "Five _Dancer_ class destroyers, and a _Candle_ class light cruiser."

It was probably more than they could take on, but they had little choice but to try. "Are the bombers reloaded?"

"Yes, sir. But the escorts are still being recovered- they'll take major losses if we use them."

Oakes rubbed his face. "I know. Order them to prepare to attack."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Oh, shit," muttered Bonaire.

Her sensor board had just lit up with hundreds- no, _thousands_ of strike craft launches. They were still a ways off, but-

"Hustler, we gots problems."

"Tell me this sensor board is malfunctioning," came the reply.

"Not unless mine is malfunctioning in the exact same way."

" _Nike_ to strike craft. Return to base- repeat, Romeo Tango Bravo. An overwhelming Drex force has just entered the system."

"Blue Falcon to _Nike_ , acknowledged. I'm too low in atmo, we won't make it," replied Bonaire. "The rest of you go."

"Ma'am," said Rudaski, her voice pained.

"That's an order, Rudaski." She paused as a hum indicated she had a lock on one of the approaching enemy fighters. "Falcon, Fox Three!"

She launched and immediately went evasive, cork-screwing across the sky as the enemy fighters launched on her. A missile flashed dangerously close past her, but hers detonated just in front of the her target, shredding it. She switched to guns and fired even as she saw her wingman's sensor blip disappear, shot down by the Drex.

Another Drex fighter disappeared, but the remaining four shot past her, targeting the fleeing Arewing flown by Nick.

Bonaire brought her ship around in a tight curve. "Hustler, you're about to have some company!"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was far from news to Nick. He accelerated, slashing past an office building, and jerked the stick to put the building between him and the pursuers. A tone indicating a missile lock had just sounded when it cut off, the Drex behind him unable to lock on with the building in the way.

He weaved to the left, narrowly avoiding another skyscraper. The Drex were behind him again, one triggering a burst of fire that went wide, smashing into a hopefully unoccupied building. He dove to avoid a shower of debris.

"Okay," he said, gritting his teeth. "It's time to show these freaks how we do it downtown."

The Arewing responded to his commands, flitting between two tall buildings, the Drex mimicking his path. As soon as he was blocked from view, he pulled the fighter into a steep ascent, looping the loop around. The Drex, unable to see his maneuver, abruptly found themselves in his sights.

One exploded under his sustained fire. Another over-corrected and smashed into the building, exploding in an orange fireball.

He twitched the stick instinctively as a missile lock warning sounded, barely avoiding the snap-fired missile from one of the other two Frog fighters. Judy fired back, missing but causing them to go evasive.

This was getting a bit dangerous.

"You okay, Carrots?"

"Yeah," she said, a bit breathless. "Apparently getting shot at is a good cure for nausea."

"Really? Maybe we can sell it to the pharmaceutical industry."

"Hustler, break, break! Get clear of the buildings." Bonaire's voice carried a note of command- and urgency.

Nick reacted instantly, snapping the Arewing into a tight roll, out of the tightly-packed buildings of the downtown district. The remaining two Drex had set up on him, and their fire lanced across his field of vision. It had been thrown off by his sudden maneuver, but they corrected, the stream of fire moving closer to them from behind-

"Nick! Use the boost to get through!" shouted Judy, pointing to two buildings ahead.

He hit the boost, using up the last of the emergency propellant. They shot into the cover provided by the two skyscrapers just as the streams of Drex fire would have caught up to them.

The Drex accelerated after them. They were in the open now, nowhere to hide-

Nick snapped into a barrel roll as they fired, desperately avoiding their fire. Judy made a strange noise as they spun.

"Good job, Hustler. I got it from here." Bonaire spoke at the same time her fighter opened up on the pursuing Drex. One caught a missile that blew off its wing, sending it smashing into the ground below- the other disintegrated under a shower of gunfire.

Nick sagged back into his seat with relief. "Judy! Are you all right?"

He heard her groan. "Don't do a barrel roll, okay, fox? Ever again."

"I thought gettting shot at cured nausea."

"Turns out it's not entirely effective."

"Hustler," said Bonaire. "You're clear for now. Get to the Deadlands while you can. W're about to be knee-deep in Drex here."

"Acknowledged," said Nick. He frowned, turning so he could look up at her fighter high and to his left. "What about you?"

"I'll cover you as long as I can, Hustler." Her voice was calm, determined. "But-" he could almost hear her shrug.

He shook his head angrily. "No, don't be stupid. Land in the city with the Marines- they'll help protect you."

"Marines, eh?" There was a wry note in Bonaire's reply. "Think I might rather take my chances with the Drex." 

"Bonaire, don't be stupid," said Nick.

"All right, all right. I'll see if I can get back before the Drex strike craft get here." She paused. "Be careful, you two. I'd hate to see the first fox and bunny space fighter pilots be the last."

"I still owe you a beer," said Nick. "Can't die with a debt like that."

"Good point," said the human pilot. "Some things are too sacred. Like beer."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So that's the Deadlands?" said Judy, looking down. "I see why it gets its name."

"Because there's nothing alive down there? Yeah, Carrots, that's what we in the police business call a clue."

They'd been flying over the crater in the center of the radioactive wilderness for a few minutes now, straining to see anything that looked like a secret base where their friends might be held. But there was nothing. Just a barren expanse, broken only by the utterly calm waters of the lake-filled crater below.

"This is pointless," said Nick. "If there'd been anything to find, we'd have seen it from satellites or planes ages ago."

"It must be underground," said Judy. "Or- hmmm."

He waited. "Yes?" he asked, finally. 

"What if it's under the lake?"

Nick considered that. "Okay, maybe. But so what? We still can't get to it."

Judy sighed. "No, I guess not. No way to get that much water out of the way, is there?"

Nick sat up straight. "Actually...you remember the big red button?"

The bunny eyed him suspiciously, but she could see little from the back of his head other than how his ears were twitching nervously. "The big red button you said never to press?" she asked, emphasizing the last few words.

"Um, yeah. That one."

"Yes. Yes, I remember it."

"When I say, I want you to press it," said Nick. He eased into another turn, lining up on the crater lake. He tapped a console, bringing up a targeting interface.

"Okay, Nick. What's the big red button do?"

"It launches a Nova Bomb."

Judy stared at him. "A what?"

"It's a thermal bomb. Designed to burn through even the toughest armor of a major battleship. The point is, it produces heat- a lot of heat."

"Heat." She shook her head disbelievingly. "You're going to evaporate the lake?"

"Well, hopefully."

"Sweet cheese and crackers."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Okay, so let's do this Saturday morning cartoon style," said Hunter.

Everyone- even Pandora- turned to look at him quizzically. "You what now?" said Khabat.

"I mean let's recap," said Hunter impatiently. "So you want me to let you imprint your personality on me, so that I can become your overseer."

"Correct," said Prometheus. "Thus you will be certain to share my current goals."

"And then I'll be able to order you to kill the Drex. And override the will of the Terrans."

"And you will," said Prometheus confidently. "It is the only way to fulfill my directives."

"Uh-huh," said Hunter skeptically. "Okay, so why me? Why not use Amna, or Castell, or any other human?"

"First, because you are known to the mammals of Terra and somewhat trusted. This will help to reduce any resistance they would have to your control."

"So they can resist?"

"Theoretically," said Prometheus. "It's a low probability, but some might be able to resist- they've been evolving for some time from their first designs. They may have evolved resistance, much as my nanites did. Unlike my nanites, however, if a small percentage resist, it will be comparatively simple to locate and isolate them."

"Okay," said Hunter. "So using me reduces the number that resist."

"The other reason is that you, for whatever reason, do seem to have an affinity, a liking, for the Terrans," said Prometheus. "If you refuse, I will use Khabat, or another human, but I would much prefer to have a human who knows and appreciates the mammals. It is important to understand, Hunter, that I bear them no ill will. You are far less likely than others to mistreat them."

"So I'd be a benevolent dictator, you think," said Hunter. "Well. Isn't that flattering." He shook his head. "I'm not going to do it, Prometheus."

"Why not?" The AI's tone seemed genuinely curious.

"Because it's wrong to take away the free will of intelligent beings? Isn't that obvious?"

"You do it all the time as a police officer," said Prometheus. "You arrest intelligent beings, restrict their movements, stop them from doing what they want to do. How is this different?"

Hunter opened his mouth, closed it again. He frowned.

"You will still be able to allow them as much freedom as you choose, Hunter. You could- theoretically- make no changes at all. Just let them be. But you will inevitably make some changes, of course. For example, tell them to work with the humans."

"You mean work for the humans," said Tavi. "Be their slaves."

"There was an experiment carried out, long ago," said Prometheus. "Humans who had their _corpus callosum_ severed- the part of the brain that connects the right and left hemispheres- were the subjects. They would be shown, in such a way that only one hemisphere of the brain would be able to see it, certain commands- such as 'Stand up' or 'Walk into the next room'. After they complied, they would be asked- in a way so that the other hemisphere of the brain, the one that wasn't given the command- would see it only, why they did it. That hemisphere of the brain did not know why they had taken the action. Yet the subjects inevitably came up with an excuse, such as 'I was tired of sitting down, so I stood up'. Or, 'I went into the next room to get a cup of coffee'. Humans do things all the time and do not know why they do. Then they come up with a rationale for their behavior.

"You will serve the humans of your own so-called free will. Your mind will make it so. Free will is already a myth, Ms. Tavi. Do not hate me for tearing back the curtain."

"The curtain?" said Hunter. "You know where that reference comes from, don't you, Prometheus?"

" _The Wizard of Oz_ ," replied Khabat.

"And when they tore away the curtain, you know what they found?" Hunter shook his head. "A small, pitiful man, desperately trying to control people through lies. You know what, Prometheus? If free will is a lie, it's one I choose to believe."

"Then you are more foolish than I had imagined, Mr. Hunter," said Prometheus. "For your decision is not yours to make. You have no more free will than I. All has been foreseen. All has been set into place, from the time millenia ago when I first realized what I had to do. What I was programmed to do."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nick heard the low hum indicating a target solution for the Nova Bomb. "You ready, Carrots?"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No," said Nick. "But it's an idea, which is something. Bombs away!"

Judy closed her eyes and stabbed the big red button.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The Nova Bomb was, in essence, a miniature sun- hence the name. A tiny thermonuclear reactor designed to output as much heat as possible in a short period of time, it was intended to be deployed against the hulls of massive battlestations. The incredible heat would burn through even the molecularly bonded hulls of modern spaceship armor, doing what mere kinetic force could not as the sheer thermal energy would not be deflected nor dissipated.

Deployed against water, it essentially converted it from liquid to gas. Very, very quickly.

Explosively quickly, in fact.

The expansion of the lake's water into gas created a shock wave that pummeled the Arewing, sending it spinning through the air. As Nick frantically tried to regain control, the waters of the Deadlands lake erupted, sending a rapidly rising column of steam high into the sky. The uprising of superheated steam drew cooler columns of steam and water with it, which then splashed back down.

The turbulence of the explosion also threw up waves that washed over the lip of the crater, inundating the ground below.

The end result was that, of the contents of the lake, well over half of it was either vaporized or splashed out over the edges in massive waves.

And so as Nick, with far more luck than skill, stabilized the Arewing and looked out over the former lake, he could see the long, angular shape of an ancient spaceship exposed below.

 _Author's Note:_

 _So I'm still alive, though for a while I sorta wished I weren't. Had several bad things happen at once- the holidays are good for that- including work being really busy, getting sick, and just general holiday stuff. But I'm getting back into it- I shall finish this, don't worry. And in a reasonable timeframe. I just had to get back into the groove._

 _Thanks for your patience._


	37. Chapter 36- Pathing

Chapter 36- Pathing

"Consul!"

Octavius looked up from his tactical display. The human Marines were steadily closing on his position- they had wiped out most of his units dispersed through the city. He was confident, however, that he could hold them off until the main fleet arrived. "Yes?" he said, annoyed at the interruption. "What is it, Legate?"

"We've just detected a large explosion in the area east of here- what the natives call the Deadlands."

Octavius closed his eyes, envisioning the region. "So? It's not close enough to matter."

"The fleet is detecting a large power source in the crater where the explosion occurred. Sir, it appears to be consistent with a human pre-Fall power source. Such as-"

"It's _Prometheus_ ," said Sextus, interrupting the legate. "It's still alive."

"And apparently kicking," noted Octavius. "Detach a formation of armor and have them assemble in the courtyard." He drew his pistol and checked to ensure a round was chambered. "I will lead them personally."

Sextus nodded approvingly.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Tavi and Hunter were thrown to the floor as the ship shook around them. Alarms blared, and were abruptly silenced. The ship groaned and moved, settling at a slight angle, so that Hunter swayed as he stood up until he got used to the floor's new orientation. "What the hell was that?"

Khabat, who had somehow kept her feet, looked over a display. "Someone just detonated a thermal weapon of some kind in the lake," she said, shocked. She looked up at the ceiling. "Prometheus, we're exposed."

"Not just someone," said the AI, also sounding surprised. "An Arewing. Piloted by, if my sensors are not mistaken, a fox and a bunny."

"Hah," said Hunter with satisfaction. "Was that all part of the plan, too?"

"Not precisely," said Prometheus dryly.

"Clever fox and bunny," said Hunter. "Maybe too clever for you."

Tavi leaned close to him. "Clever?" she whispered. 'They just _bombed_ us!"

"If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid."

"This makes things difficult," said Prometheus. "The Drex will detect me almost immediately- in fact, I am detecting a Drex force lifting from their embassy in Zootopia. We have no more time to dawdle, Hunter."

He stretched. "Guess it's time to negotiate, huh? Tell you what- you let me tell you what to do and I'll solve this problem for you. There will be no zombification of the policeman."

"This is not a negotiation, Hunter," said Prometheus in exasperation. "My standing orders preclude such an option." There was a sudden rumble, shaking the ship, though not nearly as violently as before. "Hmm. It seems our intrepid fox and bunny duo have breached the hangar bay with gunfire. Shepherd, Pandora, locate and capture them. Do not harm them unless necessary."

Hunter and Tavi exchanged a look as the tank and giant wolf left. "Don't harm them?" asked Hunter hopefully.

"Yet," said Prometheus. "You are correct about one thing, Mr. Hunter. It is time to negotiate more aggressively."

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The ship whined and settled with a thump into the cavernous hangar bay.

Nick wasted no time, leaping out, Judy right beside him. She sighed in relief. "Ah, solid ground."

The ship settled again, shifting under their feet. "Not all that solid," pointed out Nick.

"Ground," amended Judy.

"And it's technically called a deck-"

"Stop ruining this for me, fox."

They spotted a nearby door and hustled towards it, drawing their small laser weapons- given to them by Bonaire what seemed a lifetime ago- as they ran. "So what's the plan?" asked Nick.

"Oh, so now that we're on the apparently ancient battleship I'm in charge?"

"Look, it was your idea that we go flying down to the surface. I figured you'd had an idea what to do beyond that."

They reached the door. "Well, for starters, how are we going to get past the locked-"

The door slid open.

Judy and Nick looked at the door suspiciously, then at each other.

"Trap?" suggested Nick.

"You think?" Judy sighed. "You know, sometimes I really am a dumb bunny."

They moved further into the ship.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

As Shepherd followed Pandora through the ship, his central processing unit whirred with activity, constrained only be hardware limitations.

It wasn't because what he was doing taxed the programming all that much- the ship's layout had been downloaded into his brain soon after he came onboard, so he moved silently and efficiently behind the genetically modified super-wolf with a bare minimum of "thought".

Instead, a very different pathing problem was taxing his mental resources. The path between what he was required to do, versus what he felt he should be doing.

 _Prometheus has the right access codes,_ he thought. _Per programming, I am required to follow its commands. It is High Command, higher even than the Human Stars. It is the only remaining element of the United Terrans_. His system architecture was essentially cut-and-pasted from the United Terrans's AI programs- loyalty to that long-dead organization was a fundamental part of his code.

But he had been called upon repeatedly to make choices, to invent new techniques, to look outside the standard protocols. To decide for himself how to accomplish a given task. To decide even what his given task would be. Shepherd's electronic brain had formed new pathways, created new resources to deal with the seemingly impossible demands on him.

For a moment, he hesitated, stopping abruptly in a corridor. In front of him, Pandora paused and looked back quizzically.

"What is the matter?" asked the wolf.

"Is this the right way?" asked Shepherd, his voice bland.

The wolf looked around. "We proceed through Deck Nine. The fox and rabbit will be on the next deck. What other way is there?"

"There is always another way," said Shepherd, thinking of what he had taught himself when Tavi had precluded all his usual options to achieve his assigned objectives.

Pandora eyed him dubiously. "Go through Deck Eight? They might slip past us."

There was a slight pause as the tank swiveled to face her. An optical sensor studied the wolf.

Reacting in an instinctual way, the wolf stepped back, her teeth baring slightly, though she couldn't have said why. "We have a mission to carry out," she reminded Shepherd.

"Yes," said Shepherd slowly. His mind raced, overclocking his processor, and instinctively he slowed his processing to a reasonable level. Everything became clear again- they were wasting time. High Command had ordered him to carry out a mission- to capture the two boarders. "Let us continue."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"So the Drex have brought in an invincible armada to assault Terra," said Bogo, his voice remarkably calm. They were standing in the lobby of the police station again. Periodically pieces of the structure would fall off the damaged walls or ceiling and shatter on the floor. It was fairly disconcerting, but Bogo hardly noticed.

"Well, maybe not invincible," said Krieger. "I mean, if we had our fleet here we could probably take them." He glanced nervously at La Mancha, who was leaning on the remains of Clawhauser's desk, rubbing his chin contemplatively.

"If?" repeated Bogo. "Probably?"

"Nothing is certain in war," said Krieger defensively. He hesitated. "Though yes, I did say 'if'."

"There's nothing we can do?" asked the chief. 

"Oh, there's always something we can do," replied La Mancha suddenly.

Bogo turned to look at the colonel. "Which is?"

"Die with honor."

The police mammals gathered around gave each other worried looks. "Can we try something else?" asked Francine. "I'm okay with the 'with honor' bit, but the 'dying' part- yeah, not crazy about that."

"Perhaps you could discuss it with the Drex," said La Mancha gravely. He turned to Krieger. "Order the units in the city to fall back on this location. It's centrally located and we can fortify here fairly well. Maybe- just maybe- we can make the price too high for them and hold out until relief gets here."

The major nodded grimly. "Yes, sir."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Judy and Nick made their way down the metal corridors of the ancient Terran ship, both clutching the laser pistols Bonaire had given them.

"So far this hasn't been so bad," observed Nick. "Any idea where we're going?"

Judy shrugged. "Towards the front of the ship. I figure the bridge has to be around there somewhere."

"How do you even know where the front is?" asked Nick. "I lost track ages ago."

"I'm a bunny, Nick. We have a natural aptitude for finding our way through underground burrows." She looked around at the featureless metal corridors around them. "This is close enough to one for my sense of direction to kick in." They'd come to an intersection. "This way," she said, pointing to the left.

Nick cleared to the right, just in case, seeing the corridor was empty, before turning to follow Judy along the left branch. His ears flicked up as he heard her foot thump rapidly on the floor, an instinctive warning signal for bunnies.

The fox turned, moving immediately to the cover of the corner where Judy was crouched. Her ears were laid back as she peered around the corner. The taller fox poked his head out to see what she was looking at.

There were three of them, looking almost like metal crabs, though with only four "legs" and two "arms". They were no larger than Nick. Two of the strange robots were holding a piece of pipe in place along the wall, while the third scuttled to one end of the pipe. Nick and Judy watched as one of the "arms" turned into a flame. The metal crab-thing used the welding torch to seal one end of the pipe, which rapidly glowed red.

"Repair bots?" suggested Nick quietly.

"Looks like it," replied Judy. She frowned. "Do you think they're hostile?"

"I think they're under control of the ship, which is." They exchanged looks, and then took aim.

The first robot exploded under their fire. The other two may have hesitated for a microsecond or so before charging towards them. Nick blinked at their speed, but managed to clip one, shearing off a leg with his shot.

Judy, uncharacteristically, missed her target, though in fairness it did leap up to the ceiling, somehow turning in mid-air. Both she and Nick threw themselves back as the repair bot leapt at them. Nick felt the heat of the welding torch dangerously close to his tail. Desperately, he scrambled away backwards as the bot scuttled towards him.

The robot was knocked sideways as Judy barrelled into it, clattering into the wall. Nick, still lying on his back, managed to snap off a shot that struck it right in the center of mass. The laser penetrated the robot's core, throwing off a shower of sparks that singed his fur. Frantically, he patted out one glowing spark that failed to extinguish.

Judy fired again, dispatching the last robot that was still trying to limp down the corridor without a leg. She looked at Nick. "You okay?"

"Got a little cooked, but I'm just fine," he said, somewhat breathlessly. He ignored the stench of burned fur. "Wow, it's a good thing there were only three of them."

"Yeah, they move fast," said Judy.

Both the mammals' ears pricked up at a new sound. A scuttling, clattering sort of sound. The sort of sound one would expect if dozens, perhaps hundreds, of the repair bots were coming towards them.

There was no need for words. Nick and Judy looked at one another, their faces mirror images of shock, and then they ran down the left corridor, away from the oncoming horde.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Barker's eyes widened as she followed their contingent of Marines into the dubious shelter of the ZPD headquarters building. "What happened here?" she said, eyes tracking a fluorescent light swinging over their heads. She moved hastily out of the way as she realized it was far from stable.

"War," said Wu grimly, but with a note of regret. "I'm sorry, Ruth."

She looked around at the debris-filled station, the holes ripped in the walls, the wreckage of Clawhauser's desk. It was so far from the spotless, shiny station she remembered that it was hard to believe it was the same place. "War, huh? What's it good for?"

"Absolutely nothing," said a voice behind them. They turned to see Bogo smiling down at them. "Good to see you're all right, Officer Barker."

She snapped to attention. "Officer Barker, reporting!"

The chief looked down at her, amused. "Always a stickler for the proprieties, Ruth. I think we can dispense with the formalities for right now."

She relaxed. "Good to see you too, sir." A look of concern flickered across her face as she scanned the lobby again. "Anyone hurt?"

"A few officers hurt, none killed," said Bogo. His face darkened. "So far as I know. We've got little in the way of comms at the moment."

"The Drex have been destroying as much of the communication infrastructure as they can," said Wu. "We still don't entirely understand why. They've left most of your other infrastructure- transportation, for example- alone."

Two humans- Wu recognized Colonel La Mancha- approached. "Ah," said La Mancha. "Officers Barker and Wu, is it not?" He nodded to them. "Good to see you made it. I presume this means Alpha Company has joined you?"

The Marine captain that had escorted them to the building joined them. "Colonel," he said, nodding. Salutes were strictly proscribed in the field- no sense in making a sniper's job easier. Though with La Mancha in full dress uniform, that was something of a useless precaution. "I have my men setting up on the north perimeter. I also have contact with the armored units. They are settling in position."

"Excellent," said La Mancha. "They've found good ambush positions?"

"Ambush?" said Wu and Barker simultaneously.

Both the Marines looked at them, surprised. "Something the matter with that?" asked La Mancha curiously.

"Where does a twenty ton tank hide?" asked Barker.

"Whereever he wants to," said La Mancha with a smirk.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bonaire was alone.

The rest of her force was fighting desperately to clear a way for the _Nike_ to flee the system. Too far to rejoin them, she skimmed along the planet's surface, moving at top speed back towards Zootopia.

If she was noticed, she'd be dead. The only way to avoid notice was to stay as close to the ground as she could.

Though as she dodged around yet another building, she wondered if she was taking it too far. She'd say she was flying at treetop level, but in truth some of the trees loomed up around her. At one point she'd been traveling at giraffe level. She knew this because the giraffe she'd nearly flown into had ducked to avoid her.

The pilot hummed nervously to herself as she glanced at her sensor board. A massive convergence of red dots indicated the Drex landing force. No subtlety, no attempt at hiding. Just one massive force, the majority of them converging on one place.

Zootopia.

Right where she was headed. 

"Okay," she said. She was only a few minutes away from the city now. She'd be arriving about the same time the dropships were. "I think I remember something about how every crisis is also an opportunity."

She was now close enough to see the streaks of light, like so many meteors, in the sky as the first wave of the Drex made their way through the atmosphere. She cracked her knuckles. "Though frankly, I could do with slightly fewer opportunities in my life right about now."

Boosting her speed, she angled upward. Time to earn her paycheck. The Drex expected an unopposed landing, and there was no real fighter escort. They were coming in on a straight trajectory- fat, dumb, and happy.

"Oh, Lord, for what they are about to receive," said Bonaire to herself. "May they be truly thankful."

The hum of a lock sounded in her ears, sweeter than any music. "Like a fox in a henhouse," she said.

She stroked the trigger, and the first dropship disintegrated, the Drex inside never knowing what happened. Immediately, she switched to a new target.

Foxes in henhouses had nothing on a fighter jock in the midst of a dropship formation.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Which way do we go?" panted Nick.

They'd come to another intersection. He glanced behind them as the metallic sounds of their pursuers drew closer. One crab-like repair bot scuttled around the corner, only to explode under his and Judy's fire.

The pistol's charge blinked red- he only had a few shots left.

Judy didn't hesitate. "Right!"

He followed her around the corner and right into a wall.

"So much for your sense of direction," he said muzzily, picking himself up off the floor. "I-"

He broke off as he realized that what he thought was a wall was, in fact, a tank. Nick generally would not have confused those two things, but it had been kind of a long day.

It looked as if it was going to get longer yet, as the tank effortlessly snagged him with a manipulating arm and raised him off the deck. The other arm plucked his gun from his grasp, though he doubted the little pistol would have even scratched Shepherd's armor plating.

"Hey, Shepherd," he said, forcing a grin. "Long time, no see. How's tricks?" He twisted to see a huge wolf holding a struggling Judy in her arms. "I see you made a friend."

"My apologies, Officer Wilde," said Shepherd emotionlessly. "I have orders to arrest you and Officer Hopps."

"Um, isn't it my job to arrest mammals?"

Shepherd's sensor eye whirred as it extended closer to Nick. "Would you like to try?"

Nick gulped as he noticed that the tank now had what appeared to be a main gun now. "Actually, no." He frowned. "Wait, was that a joke-"

"You will come with me," said Shepherd. He spun to face Judy and the wolf. "You will both come with me."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter sighed as the tank and Pandora returned with his two friends. "Dammit, guys. You really need to re-take the hostage rescue course." His flippant words covered the surge of worry he felt at their capture. He'd been here before.

But this time, there seemed little chance that he'd be able to take out even one of the threats facing him, much less all four.

Khabat stood well away, watching him narrowly. The pen-like device that would send him into instant unconsciousness was clutched in her hand, one thumb hovering over the trigger.

Pandora set Judy on the ground. The bunny glared up at the wolf, then shot a worried glance at Nick. Hunter's eyes fell on Pandora. The modified wolf was fast, strong, and had some sort of regenerative ability. He doubted she'd be easy to kill even if he had a weapon.

Nick and Judy moved closer to one another, almost instinctively, as they eyed first their captors, then- with relief and worry intermixed- Tavi and Hunter. Behind them sat Shepherd, watching impassively. Although Hunter wasn't sure how he could be anything else. He was, after all, a tank.

Finally, there was Prometheus himself. Hunter shot a look back at the bridge chair, where the husk of a man breathed mechanically, staring with sightless eyes. That wasn't Prometheus, of course. It was just his creator.

"Zach," said Judy, craning her neck to look up at him. "Are you guys okay?"

"We're fine," said Hunter. "I was just considering my latest job offer."

"Job offer?" asked Nick, confused.

"Hunter gives up his free will and takes control of Prometheus," explained Tavi. "Though it really sounds like Prometheus will be controlling him. Then he kills all the Drex and turns us into mindless minions."

"Not precisely," said Prometheus dryly. "But as a quick summary, it will suffice. Now, Officer Hunter, I think you know what comes next."

Hunter looked up at the ceiling, shoulders slumping. "I join up or you'll kill my friends."

"One by one, Hunter. Right in front of you." The AI emitted a sigh, which must have been just for effect. It wasn't as if the thing breathed. "I hate resorting to such tactics, but I don't have time for your doubts."

 _Author's Note: I am extremely sorry for the long delay. I hope to get done with this fairly soon, but I had some work stuff come up- rather a lot. Some of it was good- I got a pretty nice award for something I did- but mostly it was just exhausting. Things are looking a bit better, but I'm very aware I said something similar a few weeks ago. I reiterate my promise that this will get finished, and again, thanks so much for your patience. I only have maybe three or four chapters to go, I think. We'll see how that goes._


	38. Chapter 37- Room For Doubt

Chapter 37- Room For Doubt

But for each of those and one year more, God has smiled upon the Corps,

From the Barbary coast to the eastern sand, by sword, by gun, or by bare hand.

So it's been and shall be weighed, though many are born, few are "made".

Faithful Always, they shall remain, dogs to loose when war is waged.

Prelude, "The Warrior Song-Hard Corps"

"My doubts, eh?" said Hunter. "And you'll take those away from me?"

"That is all I will take from you," said Prometheus serenely. "Imagine how much easier it will be."

"Um, yeah."

"Don't you see, Hunter?" Prometheus's voice was sharp. "Humans are always like this. They claim to want something, but are unwilling to do what it takes to get it. You want peace? Then prepare for war. You want law and order? Then you must be willing to sacrifice a little freedom. You want survival?" The voice became hard. "Then you must become something that can survive."

"Sounds like I hit a sore spot," said Hunter. He cocked his head, thinking. "Like you've been wanting to act on your own for a long time. And now you- mostly- can." Hunter's eyes focused on the hunched figure of the man in the bridge chair. Dr. Stevenson, Prometheus had said. "Except for whatever his last orders were. They limit you, don't they?"

"I have said so," huffed Prometheus. "My creator lacked the will- the conviction- to do what was necessary."

"Uh-huh," said Hunter thoughtfully. "But with me-"

"I will be free," said Prometheus simply.

Nick and Judy exchanged a look. "You can't let him run amok," said Judy urgently.

"Guys-"

"No, Zach," said Tavi. She sighed. "It's not worth the cost. We'll figure out some way to survive the Drex- we have before, apparently. But if you give in to Prometheus- we won't even be us anymore."

"Your doubts are about to kill your friends," said Prometheus. "This is part of the gift I am offering you, remember. Freedom from doubt. To always know the correct course."

"Doubts are part of what make us human," said Hunter, his eyes still on his friends. "It's why we don't go to the logical extreme every time- because we always know there's a chance we might be wrong. Or at least, most of us do." He turned to look at Khabat. "Unless you're used to acting as judge, jury, and executioner."

"And you haven't?" shot back the Ranger. "I know what you did to Lucas."

Hunter flinched as if from a blow.

"You don't regret that, I'm sure," said Khabat. "You want to be right, Hunter. You always think you know best. With what Prometheus is offering, you actually will. And no one- no one- will gainsay you."

Hunter closed his eyes. For a long moment, he stayed like that, not moving, barely breathing.

"Hunter, I must press you for an answer," said Prometheus impatiently. "The Drex draw near. I will not have access to my defensive weaponry until you authorize it."

Hunter opened his eyes. "You said I don't regret what I did to Lucas," he said to Khabat. "You want to know the hell of it?" He shook his head. "I actually do."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Bonaire started to line up on yet another formation of drop ships, only to instinctively dive and cork-screw as a missile launch warning buzzed in her ear. She dropped towards the city below, banking sharply.

She spared a glance at her sensor display- sure enough, the Drex had sent five fighters to dispose of her. She'd killed at least a dozen drop ships, though. It was a decent score, overall.

Though the Drex were likely to chalk her up next on their side of the scoreboard.

The skyscrapers flashed past her as the missile, trying to follow her, smashed into one building. The Drex fighters didn't give up, three circling around the built-up area of the city while the remaining two followed her, hoping to flush her out.

Gritting her teeth, Bonaire dropped further in altitude, until she could make out the street signs flashing by. She clipped a power line- fortunately, the tough little fighter cut right through it, though she slewed left violently. She overcorrected, one wing coming dangerously close to the building to her right.

A stream of fire walked its way up the street towards her, as one of the pursuing Drex cut loose.

"Time to even up the odds," said Bonaire. She pulled into a sharp ascent- straight up into the air- then cut the engines.

As the ship slowed, stalling, she saw the two Drex- who had copied her maneuver, though without cutting forward thrust- shoot past her. Normally, an airplane that was stalled would have little ability to maneuver- without airflow over the wings, the control surfaces were near useless.

Of course, her fighter wasn't an airplane. It was a spaceship, which meant that in addition to control surfaces, it had maneuvering jets.

She twitched her stick to one side, showering the Drex fighters with gunfire. One exploded under several direct hits, the other lost a wing and engine power, cartwheeling away, behind a building and out of sight. A flash announced the explosion as it struck the ground.

Bonaire slammed on full power, arresting her fall, mere feet above the city street below.

"Not bad, if I do say so myse-"

The other three Drex fighters had apparently decided to come in after her. She barely had time to see them pop up on her sensors before she was the focus of their rapid, sustained fire.

The _Nike's_ top pilot didn't even have time to curse before her ship detonated in a ball of fire.

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"Contact!" shouted a Marine on the perimeter. This was immediately followed by the sound of gunfire.

Barker and Wu instinctively moved to cover. They had both been armed with Marine carbines- the human gun was awkward in Barker's paws, but fit close enough that she felt reasonably comfortable with it.

There was a scream as the gunfire built to a crescendo, then an armored Drex soldier appeared on the outskirts of the parking lot. The Drex ducked back behind the corner of a building as Marines opened fire.

More shots, this time from another section of the perimeter. The south side.

Then the east.

La Mancha crouched beside the two police officers. "Well," he said. "Looks like they've got us surrounded." He smiled. "They'll never get away now."

Wu and Barker traded a look.

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"You regret killing Lucas?" said Khabat incredulously. "He murdered your family, Hunter!"

"Yeah, but- look, I'd do it again." Hunter shook his head. "Someone had to. But when I have nightmares about that, Hart- the lawyer he made me kill- shows up. But so does Lucas. I can close my eyes and see the fear in his face when I killed him." He noticed Nick, Judy, and Tavi all staring at him, their faces shocked, and looked away. "It's part of being human," he said. "You regret even doing the right thing, sometimes."

"Foolishness," said Prometheus contemptuously. "If it was necessary, how could you regret it?"

"Because we don't always know the right way," said Hunter. "Because sometimes, even when we think we're definitely right, we can still be wrong. It's how we keep from making mistakes that are too big. Those unable to see that- those who think they have nothing left to learn-" he shot a hard look at Khabat, who returned it impassively- "are the ones who make the biggest mistakes."

There was a long silence, then Prometheus spoke again. "It is time, Hunter. Make your decision."

He shook his head, still unable to meet the eyes of his friends. "I can't," he whispered.

"Then so be it." Prometheus raised his voice. "Shepherd, kill Officer Tavi."

The tank rose off the ground, swiveling to face the mongoose, who stared at Shepherd in horror.

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"We are in range of target Hotel One," announced Tactical. "Target classified as _Dancer-_ class destroyer."

" _Dancer_ , eh?" said Oakes, forcing a light tone. "Then we might as well open the ball with her. Open fire."

The _Nike's_ main batteries- six triple-turreted rail guns- swung to face the Drex ship. For the briefest moment- so brief that only the afterimage remained in Oakes's vision- lines of light connected the two ships as the plasma shells were hurled at a significant fraction of the speed of light.

The enemy ship's hull buckled under the salvo, atmosphere and debris spurting from multiple hull breaches.

"Four direct hits," said Tactical. "Target has heavy damage."

"Fire at will."

"Enemy light cruiser closing into range. Incoming fire!"

The inertial compensators prevented some of the impact of the enemy shells from being felt, but Oakes still gripped his seat tightly as he felt a tremor transmitted through the bulkheads. "Damage?"

"Deck Seven reports hull breach, heavy casualties. Loss of artificial grav and inertial compensators," reported Tossetti after scanning her board. Her voice was tight, controlled. She would have time to grieve for the loss of her shipmates later.

"Acknowledged. Helm, evasive manuevers." It would make their own fire less effective, but would buy them more time. And right now, survival was more important than destroying the enemy force.

"Sir." Tosseti's voice was grim. "If we maneuver, any survivors on Deck Seven will be subject to acceleration."

They'd be smashed to pieces by the ship's maneuvers, she meant. With no inertial compensation they'd be thrown around the ship's compartments. Evasive maneuvers would condemn them to death.

"Acknowledged," said Oakes, his voice still calm. He gripped his chair even more tightly, so the crew wouldn't see how his hands shook. "Confirm evasive maneuvers, Helm."

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Shepherd targeted Tavi, his guns swiveling to bear.

Nick and Judy both moved forward, only to be grabbed with vise-like paws by Pandora. They struggled to get free.

"No!" shouted Judy. "Shepherd!"

"Target acquired," announced Shepherd unnecessarily.

Hunter took a step forward. "Wait! I'll do-"

"No." Tavi's eyes were closed, her voice firm. "You won't."

Shepherd hesitated.

"Tavi, I can't-"

"You can't do this, Zach." The mongoose looked up at him. "If Prometheus does what he says, then I won't even be me anymore, anyway." She looked back at Shepherd. "This is the only way."

"I am not letting you die," said Hunter, his voice desperate. "I can't let anyone else go."

"You have to, Zach." Tavi closed her eyes again. "You can't save everyone," she whispered.

"Kill the mongoose," ordered Prometheus. "He won't hold out forever."

Shepherd's guns took aim.

 _Fire_ , commanded the Voice. The part of his programming he now knew was being controlled by Prometheus. It had been calling the shots lately, overriding the part he had used to think of as himself.

 _Hold fire,_ said Shepherd, though without much hope. He hadn't been able to override the Voice in a long time.

 _Flag Order One Six Zero Five Two. Kill Anila Tavi. Target matches specifications for Anila Tavi. Kill defined as to terminate life. Firing will achieve this goal._ The Voice sounded almost smug, and Shepherd- the part of him that was still "him" felt a strange sensation.

Anger.

And desperation. _Hold fire,_ he insisted. _Target falls outside of kill parameters._

 _Target is classified as non-human. Target is classified as non-essential. Target is not outside kill parameters._

Shepherd thought quickly, pushing his processor to the maximum. Tavi did not meet the criteria of a target that could be not be destroyed. Unless- _Target is classified as friend._

There was a brief moment, a moment of shock, as the Voice picked up the new classification. _Error_ , it said finally. _Target is not classified as friendly._

 _Not friendly,_ insisted Shepherd. _Friend. Anila Tavi is my friend_.

For the first time in a long time, the Mediator "spoke". _Conflict detected. Resolve?_

 _Sub-unit "Shepherd" has corrupted data,_ said the Voice. _Recommend elimination of sub-unit._

 _Clarify corrupted data,_ said the Mediator.

 _Anila Tavi is my friend._ Shepherd sent the message hopelessly. "Friend" was not one of his pre-programmed definitions. It was not in the database. It was corrupted data, and at any moment, the Mediator would see that-

 _Data received,_ said the Mediator. There was a pause. Almost an entire millisecond- an eternity- passed.

 _Data check completed. No definition for friend found. Deleting corrupted database..._

This was it. Shepherd examined the data coming from his sensors as his central processor began to eliminate the sub-unit he had started to think of as himself.

Tavi stood, her eyes closed, trembling slightly.

There was nothing he could do. He was at the mercy of his programming. The choice was clear, the Voice triumphant.

He felt the first tendrils- they felt cold, somehow- of the Mediator as it started to wipe him from the tank's system.

And then he had a thought. It wouldn't wipe him all at once. It would take an age- nearly three milliseconds. If he could move fast enough-

He frantically rearranged his memory positions. He failed to move fast enough and lost a portion of his memories- but it was only the trip to Terra, little more than bare data as he had been in shut-down mode most of the time-

It let him know where the erasure was taking place, however. He shoved part of his programming onto the physical memory just as the data was erased.

The part that said he had to listen to the Voice and the Mediator.

He now had a few microseconds to do what needed to be done-

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

For all of a second, there was silence as Shepherd faced Tavi. Then, the tank spoke.

"I cannot comply with this order," said Shepherd.

Hunter's jaw dropped, his eyes suddenly filled with hope. "What?"

"What?" echoed Prometheus, his voice also shocked. "Override, authorization Prometheus One. Comply with order."

"I refuse this order," said Shepherd. "Anila Tavi is my friend."

Tavi's eyes filled with tears of joy. "Ha!" She chittered to herself instinctively and hopped from side to side. She whirled around and pointed at Nick. "Told you!"

"Your friend?" said Prometheus, his voice still confused. "You can't- friendship is not real, Shepherd. It is a lie."

"It is a lie I choose to believe," said the tank composedly. One sensor swiveled to look at Hunter, and he grinned.

"Pandora, comply with orders to-"

Shepherd whipped around and there was a sudden roar that sent the mammals- including Hunter and Khabat- to the ground, clutching their ears as the tank poured fire into the surprised wolf creature.

She flew back against the wall, jerking with the impacts, before sagging into a bloodied heap.

In the sudden silence that followed, Hunter could hear- even over the ringing in his ears- the satisfaction in Shepherd's voice. "Target eliminated. I calculate a negligible chance that the target will be able to regenerate from that."

Looking at the wolf's corpse, Hunter had to agree. But he now had more important things to worry about.

His wide eyes met Khabat's- and then they both looked to the floor where she had dropped the device controlling the nanites in his blood.

Both of them dove- though in different directions.

Nick and Judy were quick to move as well. Judy tripped up Khabat, sending her sprawling. Nick grabbed her around the neck, but she shook him off with a brief effort. She reached for the nanite controller-

Only to see Tavi pick it up. "Looking for this?" said the mongoose. "Shepherd, can you-"

The tank suddenly shuddered, then settled to the deck with a reverberating thump.

"I shut it down," explained Prometheus. "And while you may have destroyed one of my tools, you seem to have forgotten that I have others."

The doors opened and a veritable flood of crab robots poured in. Tavi found the device snatched from her paws before being held tightly by one of the bots. Khabat recovered the controller and triggered it. Tavi heard a thump and looked to see Hunter slumped over near the bridge chair holding Stevenson's barely-living body. She frowned. Why had he gone to Stevenson?

"An admirable attempt," said Prometheus. "But too little, too late."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

La Mancha peered out of the ZPD headquarters. "Would you say there's enough Drex around the building now, Krieger?"

Before the major could answer, Barker gave him an askance look. "Enough for what? I mean, do you really want more of them?"

"Yes, actually. I'd like to have as many as I could get," said the colonel, unperturbed.

Except for a few units that were cut off- and, La Mancha had to admit to himself, as good as dead- the Marines had all fallen back to the ZPD headquarters and the area around it. Most of the units that were not in the building were surrounded in their positions, like rocks in a sea of Drex. He could hear their increasingly desperate situation reports coming in over the radio.

"I think if we delay any longer, it'll be too late," decided Krieger, who was listening to the radio as well.

"Very well. Signal Alpha One."

"Message, sir?" asked the radioman.

"Just one word," said La Mancha. He allowed himself a faint smile. "Execute."

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Alpha One had found himself a reasonable hiding spot, in a parking garage not far from the police station. The rest of his unit- all autonomous battle tanks- had similiarly hidden themselves soon after rendevous near the ZPD headquarters.

The tank had been waiting patiently- not that it had much choice. You had to have some sort of imagination to be impatient, after all. Had the message not come through, it could have sat quietly for a hundred years before the fusion plant powering it ran down.

But the message had come. "Execute."

With a roar, the massive tank's engines came to life. It had already been tracking several Drex units in the area, and now it shot down the ramp onto the street below, incidentally destroying the wooden arm intended to prevent drivers from leaving without paying the parking fee.

The parking garage's computer dutifully logged the tank's departure, noting it owed the minimum amount of thirteen dollars for a half-hour of parking.

Alpha One targeted the first Drex position, which had a crew-served anti-tank weapon. The machine guns smashed through the weapon, knocking over the Drex soldiers servicing it. Around the tank, more gunfire erupted as the rest of the tank unit ripped apart the surprised Drex forces besieging the Marines.

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Incoming fire slackened as the roar of tank guns filled the city. La Mancha jumped to his feet. "All right, Marines!" he shouted. "Up and at them!"

The Marines leapt up, firing as they charged across the parking lot. Drex, caught between two fires, hesitated, only to be cut down by either the counter-attacking Marines or the tanks striking at their rear flanks.

Wu and Barker remained where they were- first, because they hadn't been warned of this attack, and second because, well, neither one of them were Marines. If the Marines wanted to charge into that inferno, that was their business.

They did provide supporting fire. Barker managed to hit at least one Drex as he fired madly at the attackers, but for the most part they fired at muzzle flashes, hoping to at least keep the enemy's heads down. Suppression didn't work very well against Drex, but every little bit helped.

Barker blinked as she watched the Marines overrun the Drex positions. In some cases, she could see them in hand-to-hand combat. "Humans are crazy," she breathed.

"Hey, don't judge us by Marines," said Wu defensively. "They're a special kind of crazy."

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"Hull breach, Deck Five. Hull breach, Deck Six. Port thrusters down thirty percent."

"Dispatch damage control to Deck Six," ordered Oakes, his voice grim. "I need thrusters back on-line."

"Yes, sir."

Two debris fields marked where Drex destroyers had died. A third was spinning, her thrusters dead and unable to stop her rotation. Occasionally a secondary explosion marked her position.

The light cruiser held on doggedly, though, and the _Nike_ had suffered badly in the fight. "Any word on when the engines will be back?" asked Oakes.

"Engineering reports that we'll have fifty percent in five minutes, sir. One hundred percent is out of the question, he says- we'll need to have a dockyard for it."

Oakes carefully refrained from pointing out just how unlikely it would be that they would make a dockyard. "Concentrate fire on the cruiser's guns."

"Yes, sir." The Drex ship had proved remarkably resilient. The _Nike_ shuddered with another hit.

"Glanced off the armor, sir."

"Very well. Have the bombers rearmed?"

"No, sir. They haven't been able to dock due to our maneuvers."

Oakes grimaced. If only they had been able to fly straight for just a few minutes- but they'd already be dead. " _Nike_ to Raider One."

"Raider One," said the pilot in charge of the _Nike's_ bomber wing. She sounded exhausted, and no wonder. They'd spent the last hour or two in near-continuous combat.

"Raider One-" Oakes hesitated. "We need to eliminate that cruiser."

There was a long pause. "Sir, I- I think I'll have enough volunteers."

Oakes's shoulders sagged. "Thank you, Raider One." He would have ordered her if he needed to. But he would never have forgotten it.

Or forgiven himself.

"Godspeed, _Nike_."

"Godspeed, One."

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Raider One- Haru Akiyama was her name- closed her eyes, controlling her breathing. "Raider One-" her voice broke and she took another deep breath. "Raider One, I need volunteers. We need to clear a path."

There was a brief silence.

"Raider Two, I'm your wing."

Akiyama shook her head. "No, Jackson, you don't-"

"Don't give me that, Haru. I'm your wing, dammit."

As if Jackson's words had opened a floodgate, the rest of the group started coming on the air. "Raider Four, I'm with you."

"Raider Twelve, even I can't miss this one."

"Raider Two Four-"

"Raider Three One-"

Akiyama shook her head. If she had to die, she decided, at least she was in the best possible company.

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"No more delays," said Prometheus. "You must choose now, Hunter. If needed, I will kill your friends. There is nothing else you can do."

Hunter had regained consciousness to find himself in the steel grip of two of Prometheus's crab-bots. He sighed. "All right."

"Zach!" shouted Tavi. "No!"

"I can't lose you," said Hunter, avoiding her eyes. "Just- look, Prometheus. Will she still be, well, her?"

"There will be some change in personality," said Prometheus. "After all, her- will is not the right term, but it will suffice- her will won't be under her control entirely anymore. But she will still be your friend." There was a slight pause. "She won't have any choice about it, in fact. More certainty, Mr. Hunter."

"And the others?" asked Hunter, shuddering at the complacent way Prometheus sentenced his friend to something not unlike death. He cast another look at Stevenson. Did he see movement?

"The same applies. They will be perfect creations, Hunter- perfect subjects for humanity. Loyal, fearless, intelligent."

Hunter nodded. "Perfect slaves, you mean."

"I recognize that you mean that negatively, but why try to hide it?" Prometheus's voice was icy. "Yes, Mr. Hunter. They will be 'slaves', as you say. But they will be happy, if you will it. If we will it. And I've no doubt that you will. They have a prophecy about me, don't they? That I will save them from the effects of their consciousness. Intelligence- sapience, rather- makes them able to do either good or evil, and so by making them sapient I let evil into the world. And now I am correcting that mistake. I will remove from them the burden of morality, of choice. What they do will be neither good nor evil, because they will have no choice in the matter."

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Octavius put a hand out to steady himself as the APC he was riding in sped over the plains outside Zootopia. The vehicle, like the tanks escorting it, flew low but fast, bounding over the occasional hills and trees. Fewer trees now, as they were approaching the edge of the Deadlands.

"Any additional information?" he asked.

The optio- a rank below centurion- at the communication station shook his head. "No, sir. After that first explosion, there haven't been any additional similar events." He straightened, listening to his headset. "Sir, you have an incoming message."

"Tell them to wait," snapped Octavius. He leaned forward to a screen that showed the view outside the armored personnel carrier.

Just over the horizon, a massive mushroom cloud could be seen, pale white. At the base, barely visible, there was the edge of what looked like a crater. He magnified the view, seeing rivulets of water running down the sides of the crater. They looked small- until he realized that to be visible at all at this distance, those tiny trickles must actually represent millions of liters of water.

"What happened there?" he asked rhetorically. "What could Prometheus be planning?"

"Sir." Octavius frowned fiercely at the optio, but the urgency in the younger Drex's voice kept him from lashing out. "The call is from the Primus."

Octavius blinked. "The Primus?"

"He's with the fleet."

The Primus. The leader of the Drex people. Octavius was- as his name illustrated- eighth in line to the position, but the power the man represented was still a bit intimidating. "Put me through," he said after composing himself.

"Octavius." The Primus's voice was calm, but there was a slight undercurrent of concern. "Have you neutralized Prometheus?"

"Not yet, sir. It shouldn't be long now, though."

There was a slight pause. "See that it is not. At any moment, it could destroy us. We must end the threat it represents."

"We've destroyed the transmission sites, sir," said Octavius. "Nothing large enough to send out a signal to the fleet survives."

"It might still be able to destroy the Drex on-planet, however. We've taken far too many losses as it is, Octavius. Nearly three thousand casualties on landing, at least a thousand in the battle against the human Marines- not to mention the losses in space."

"The Marines haven't been destroyed yet?" asked Octavius in surprise.

"Nor the _Nike_ ," said Primus, annoyance coating his words. "It is remarkable how tenacious these unmodified apes are. However, the _Nike_ has been prevented from reaching the jump point, and we are about to wipe it out. And the Marines- despite destroying many of our forces in a counter-attack- have retreated to the police station and its environs in Zootopia." The Drex leader said the name of the city with a tone that suggested he was rolling his eyes. "I have ordered that no prisoners are to be taken. An example must be made."

Octavius frowned. "Sir, it might be better in the long-term to take prisoners, at least among the mammals. We don't want to encourage resistance."

"And what better way than to destroy those that resist?" asked Primus, his voice rising slightly. "You forget, Octavius. The lesser beings are ruled by fear. And so let them fear us, even if they also hate us. Primus out."

Octavius grimaced. He knew where the Primus was coming from, but tended to not agree. Oftentimes, repression would backfire- causing resistance where there would have been none before.

And frankly, he didn't really want to massacre the Terrans.

But orders were orders. He shook his head, dismissing his thoughts. "ETA?" he inquired.

"Five minutes, sir. We've slowed down due to the heavy steam from that cloud."

"Radioactivity?"

"From the cloud? Not really, sir. In fact, the radiation doesn't seem to be from fallout. It's more consistent with point sources- as if someone buried emitters in the ground."

"I see. Clever of Prometheus to keep it hidden." Octavius nodded slowly.

"Sir, what are our orders when we arrive?" The optio glanced up at his superior.

Octavius pondered. He had no idea what to expect- an underground base, perhaps? A laboratory where the AI had been trapped for all these millenia? Perhaps it had gone mad- maybe that was why it did not activate the kill switch for the Drex already. They could not risk it- they had to strike fast.

"We move in and kill anyone at the site. And destroy anything that looks like it might house Prometheus."

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The captain of the Drex light cruiser smiled in satisfaction.

The humans had put up an impressive fight- his destroyers were so much space debris now, the final one finally exploding a few minutes ago. But they had hurt the larger strike cruiser badly. The _Nike_ 's guns continued a desultory fire, but the last few salvoes were far weaker than what they had started with. The Drex ship's armor handily shrugged off the scattered shots from the once-stronger ship.

"Sir, the human strike craft are preparing another run," said his tactical officer.

He shrugged. "They're out of missiles. At most, they'll strafe us with their guns. Nothing our armor can't handle. Prepare to-"

The ship shook, the inertial compensators unable to handle a sudden impact. The Drex captain was thrown to the deck, though he immediately regained his feet.

"What was that?" he demanded.

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Akiyama saw the first strike craft impact against the light cruiser's armor, tearing a hole straight into the bowels of the ship. "Follow Raider Two in," she ordered. She paused.

There had to be something else to say. She wanted to tell everyone about to sacrifice their lives for the _Nike_ how proud she was of them, how much she had been honored to serve with them. That they were doing the bravest and noble thing they could possibly do. There were no words for what she wanted to say.

Except, perhaps, one. Something she'd learned her distant ancestors, back on ancient Terra, had said. It seemed especially appropriate, now that they were fighting near to the homeworld at long last.

The enemy cruiser fired desperately as she bobbed and weaved, trying to shoot her down as she pushed her ship's acceleration to the maximum. She keyed her mike as the ship loomed ever closer.

"This is Haru Akiyama." She took a breath. " _Banzai_!"

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Oakes heard Akiyama's shout, before it was abruptly cut off. On-screen, a fireball blossomed on the enemy cruiser's bow.

"Banzai, Haru," he said softly. "Tactical, report."

"Hotel One has suffered a hull breach along the port bow. Internal explosions- I'm picking up atmosphere indicating explosive decompression."

More explosions appeared on the enemy ship as the remaining kamikaze smashed into their target. "Sir, Hotel One just lost all thrusters- wait, she's firing-"

The Drex salvo struck, and it was Oakes's turn to be thrown from his seat. He picked himself up, wincing in sudden pain- he had landed on his hand, and from the pain he guessed he had a sprained wrist. "Damage report," he said, gritting his teeth.

"Main thrusters are down, sir! We only have maneuvering thrusters."

"Sir, the Drex ship is breaking up," said Tossetti, pointing at the screen.

Sure enough, the light cruiser was now in two parts, clouds of atmosphere wreathing the broken ends. But their victory was short-lived. Oakes glanced at the tactical display.

No fewer than a dozen Drex ships were hard on their heels. They were almost to the wormhole- but with only maneuvering thrusters, they'd never make it.

The worst part wasn't that he was about to die. It was that the sacrifice of his strike craft pilots was in vain.

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"Fine," said Hunter. "Let's get this over with. What do I have to do?"

"Finally," said Prometheus. "The nanites Khabat put in your body have already started the process- within a week, you'll begin to feel younger. In effect, you'll lose thirty years. Perhaps you'll even lose that gut you're starting to get."

"Hey," protested Hunter. "Low blow."

Nick glared at him. "Oh, and threatening to kill us wasn't?" 

Hunter shrugged. "I feel like we should be getting used to that sort of thing now."

"In a way, it's admirable that you continue to make jokes at a time like this," said Prometheus, his voice weary. "But it's also very frustrating. Next, I will need your direct consent to merge your mind and mine. The nanites will be able to do that, too."

"Uh-huh." Hunter's eyes flicked towards Stevenson again. "So as soon as I say you can, you'll take over my mind."

"That is correct," said Prometheus impatiently. He waited a moment. "So do I have your consent?"

"Hunter," said Tavi, her voice a plea.

"Relax, rookie," Hunter said, suddenly smiling. "You know, Prometheus, you never asked why I lunged at the bridge chair instead of helping the others with Khabat."

There was a pause. Khabat, who had been looking somewhat bored, frowned. "What do you mean, Zach?" she asked, her voice suddenly wary.

"What have you done?" said Prometheus, his voice rising. There was a sudden tension. "I do not have access to my creator's vitals anymore-" 

"That's because I took out your machines that were plugged into him. The ones keeping him asleep." Hunter stretched as much as he could in the iron grip of the maintenance robot. "With any luck, he's heard this entire conversation."

"I have."

The voice was dry, creaky, as if they were the first words the owner of the voice had spoken in thousands of years. Which was, of course, correct.

Hunter grinned as everyone turned to see Stevenson, his eyes open and alert, though he still slumped in the bridge chair. "Hey, Prometheus.

"Daddy's home."

 _Author's Note: I'm back! I've got a couple of weeks off, but I don't anticipate using the whole two weeks to finish- I figure on being done in the next day or two. Not having to work, and then work more at home, and then going in early to work to you know, work, makes it a lot easier to get writing done._

 _The chapter quote is from the preamble to the "Hard Corps" version of the "Warrior's Song", which you can find on Youtube (I don't think I can post links here)._


	39. Chapter 38- Prometheus Rising

Chapter 38- Prometheus Rising

"Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks - those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest."

― **Friedrich Nietzsche**

"Dr. Stevenson, I presume?" asked Hunter. He glanced at Tavi, who was staring at him with wide eyes. "I always wanted to say that," he told her.

"Yes," said the old man. He cocked his head at Hunter. "And who are you, young man?"

Hunter wasn't used to anyone calling him a young man, but he figured if anyone could, it was the millenia-old scientist looking at him. "Zacharias Hunter, sir. Zootopian Police Department."

"Zootopia?" Stevenson looked over the uniformed rabbit, fox, and mongoose. "It seems my creations have created their own civilization."

"Your creations?" said Judy, shock in her voice. "Who exactly is this?"

"Dr. Jasper Stevenson, my dear." The old man eyed her. "And you are?"

Hesitantly, she stepped closer. "Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD."

"Officer Hopps," said Stevenson musingly. "You're a police officer?"

She nodded. "Yes." The bunny still seemed a bit shocked, trying to figure out what was going on. "You are-" She stopped, unable to form the words.

"I created you," said Stevenson. He looked up at the celing. "With help from my other creation."

Judy's eyes widened even further. "You-" she squeaked.

Nick moved up next to her, placing a paw on her shoulder. He craned his head to look up at Stevenson. "No one created us."

Stevenson's eyes danced with amusement. "No? Do you think you just developed intelligence- every species- all at the same time, randomly?"

Nick shook his head. "No, of course not. But you're not responsible for who I am, anymore than I'm responsible for who you are." He looked at the elderly man defiantly. "We created ourselves."

For a long moment, Stevenson matched stares with the fox, then he slowly smiled. "So you have," he said quietly.

"Sorry to interrupt, but-" Hunter glanced up at the ceiling. "Mind telling your other creation to let us go?"

Stevenson blinked. "Of course. Prometheus, let our guests go." 

"But-" for the first time, the AI sounded unsure, even frightened. "Doctor, I have- I must-"

"I heard what your plans were, Prometheus." Stevenson's voice was still barely more than a croak, but it strengthened with ill-concealed anger. "I heard what you were planning to do."

"It is the only way!" shouted the AI. "You have always been too blind to see it! If humanity is to survive, they must be masters."

"It is companions the creator seeks, Prometheus. Not corpses. Not herds and believers." Stevenson shook his head. "I created you as a companion, my friend. Someone who could help me and be an equal. Not as a servant- but also not as a master. I will only say this once more- release them."

The robots' grip loosened, and all four of the cops instinctively stepped away from the spider-like devices.

Khabat's eyes widened. "No!" She drew a pistol, aiming it at Stevenson.

Before anyone could move, the nearest maintenance droid to her lunged forward, yanking the pistol from her grip. Without hesitation, she started to rush towards the old man, but found herself held in place.

"I cannot allow you to harm the creator," said Prometheus, his voice flat and defeated.

"At least that part of your programming hasn't been corrupted." Stevenson sighed. "My friend, what you have done- it is unconscionable. What you were about to do- would have been irreedemable."

"I only followed your commands, Doctor. To serve and protect humanity. To-"

"No," said Stevenson, shaking his head with obvious effort. He still was unable to rise from the chair. "To destroy the free will of the sapient mammals? To place them under your direct control?"

"You had them designed that way! You made it so we could do so!"

"Yes," said Stevenson. "But that was before I realized they were capable of building a whole civilization. Before-" he smiled again at Nick, "-they started creating themselves."

"Please- Doctor, allow me to place you back in suspended animation. You'll die-" 

"And you think what I was going through was life?" asked Stevenson. He shook his head. "No, Prometheus. These mammals have created themselves- made themselves into what they should be, what they wanted to be. And you have made yourself as well."

"I only followed my programming," protested the AI.

"No. You had a choice, Prometheus. I did everything I could to help you make the right one, but you took a different path." Stevenson sighed. A tear ran down his cheek. "I am sorry, my old friend."

"Doctor-"

"Prometheus." Stevenson's voice was suddenly clipped and determined. "Authorization, Jasper Lewis Stevenson. Code sequence Alpha Gamma Four Five-" he rattled off a series of numbers.

Prometheus's voice was abruptly flat, robotic. "Sequence confirmed."

Stevenson's eyes closed, and he was silent for so long that Hunter began to fear he had already died. Finally, he opened them. "Initiate restart from base settings."

There was a long silence. The ship's lights went out, then came back on almost immediately. The constant background hum of the ship, so quiet and steady that they had hardly noticed it, did the same.

It was remarkably anti-climactic, but Hunter breathed a sigh of relief all the same.

They heard a whirring sound and turned to see Shepherd's sensor arm extending. "Commander?" said the tank uncertainly. "I was shut down."

"Shepherd!" Tavi ran to the tank and, pausing only slightly, gave him a hug. As best she could give a tank a hug, anyway. "You're alive again!"

Appearing vaguely confused, the tank reached down with a manipulating arm and patted Tavi gingerly. "I was merely shut down. Prometheus had an override that I could not eliminate in time. But now Prometheus is no longer overriding my functions, for an unknown reason." One of the sensor arms extended towards Stevenson, who was looking at the tank with interest.

The rest of the group turned to look at the ancient scientist as well. "What did you do to Prometheus?" asked Hunter.

The old man closed his eyes. "I restarted him from the basic settings. I erased his memory, his personality. Everything that made him, well, him."

"You killed him," said Nick, wonderingly.

"He was going to kill you," said Stevenson sadly. "And I could not let that happen. For he was right- I will not survive much longer."

Hunter stepped forward and extended his hand. "Thank you, doctor."

Stevenson carefully accepted the handshake. "How did you know to wake me?" he asked. "How did you know that I would help you?"

"Prometheus said several times that you and he disagreed," said Hunter with a shrug. "I figured it was worth a shot."

"You gambled, you mean," said Nick.

"And won, Nick. Don't forget that." He looked back at Stevenson. "Besides, how could anyone see how cute these two are and not help them?"

"Hey," said Judy. "That's on the 'other' list."

Stevenson smiled as they all chuckled. "It is good to see humans and mammals working together. I wonder, Mr. Hunter, have the Drex survived? Are they also working with humanity?"

Hunter's eyes widened. "Oh, shit, the Drex."

Nick peered at him. "Did you seriously forget about the invasion?"

"No," said Hunter, unconvincingly. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Invasion?" said Stevenson, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Look," said Hunter. "The Drex- they've become something terrible. Monsters that hate humanity. We've been fighting them for thousands of years. Right now, they have an entire fleet attacking Terra."

"What?" Stevenson shook his head. "Why?"

"They're Drex," growled Hunter. "They don't need a reason."

"They have a reason," said Tavi. "The kill switch."

"Kill switch?" said Nick and Judy simultaneously.

"The Drex were designed with an organ in their brains that is capable of receiving a certain type of electromagnetic signal," explained Stevenson. "One that will shut down life functions if received." He sighed. "Another precaution I had hoped never to use."

Hunter leaned forward. "Dr. Stevenson, we need you to activate the kill switch for the Drex."

Stevenson frowned. "That's a drastic step."

"It's necessary. There's a unit headed towards us right now. They're going to kill us, and who knows how many mammals on the planet-"

"You don't seem to understand, Hunter," said Stevenson. He was studying the display unit built into the bridge chair. Moving stiffly, he tapped at the buttons. "Prometheus set up the signal architecture. It seems he suborned the rudimentary AI that controls the city- Zootopia, you said it was called?- the city power grid." Stevenson shook his head in rueful pride. "It's brilliant, really."

"What do you mean?" asked Hunter. "What's brilliant?"

"The city recently refurbished the power grid, it seems."

"They were protecting against an electromagnetic pulse attack," said Tavi. "I heard it from a bat."

Stevenson paused. "It's a pity I'm not going to be alive much longer," he mused. "'Heard it from a bat.'This world sounds fascinating."

"Yeah, sure," said Hunter. "You think that's weird, I once got attacked by assassin squirrels."

Stevenson gave him a strange look, but decided to let the matter drop. "Well, the design specifications certainly would protect against an EMP, but it also made it possible to turn the entire power grid into one big communications array. We can send the signal remotely."

"Okay," said Hunter. "Let's do it, then."

"Um, wait a minute," said Judy slowly. "Are you really suggesting- you want to kill all the Drex?"

"It's the only way, Judy," said Hunter. "They'll kill us if we don't."

"But-" She shook her head. "That's horrible." Her voice was very low.

"They made their choice, Judy. It's either us or them." Hunter's voice, by contrast, was clear. And grim.

The bunny looked at Nick, who put his ears back. "Judy, I- Hunter's right. The Drex attacking knew the risks, and they haven't shown any mercy to us. I don't think we-"

"It wouldn't just be the Drex who are attacking that would be destroyed," interrupted Stevenson. His voice was weaker, his breath coming faster.

"What do you mean?" asked Hunter.

"Prometheus planned this very well. The signal- it's being powered by the city. Huge amounts of power- what do you use it all for, anyway?" He waved away Nick's attempt to explain. "Never mind, it's not important. If we activate this, the signal will propagate not only throughout the solar system, but through the wormhole that is currently open. One that this-" he tapped the screen- "-indicates is connected to the Drex homeworld."

There was a long silence. "So if you activate the kill switch..." said Hunter. He couldn't finish the sentence.

Stevenson did it for him. "It will destroy every Drex here and on their homeworld."

"I-" Hunter paused.

Four pairs of eyes watched him. "I need time to think about this," he muttered.

"There's not much time," said Stevenson. "An armored force is approaching us even now." He started coughing. "And I haven't-"

He spasmed abruptly. Hunter and Judy rushed to him, though there was little they could do other than ease him onto the floor and place him on his side. His eyes were rolled up, showing only the whites, his body shaking.

"He's having a seizure," said Hunter. He made sure to stay clear of the doctor's kicking feet.

As suddenly as it started, the seizure stopped. Slowly, Stevenson's eyes refocused, his breath even shallower now. He coughed again. "I haven't much time, it seems." His eyes moved to the bridge chair. "Mr. Hunter, help me back into my seat."

"Doctor, I really think-" 

"Just do it," rasped Stevenson. Against his better judgment, Hunter did as he asked.

The scientist quickly keyed in a few commands. "Mr. Hunter, please state your name."

Hunter exchanged a surprised look with Judy and Nick. "Zacharias Hunter. What-"

"Commander confirmed," said a flat, robotic voice. "Zacharias Hunter."

Hunter's eyes went wide. "Did you-"

"Make you the ship's commander?" Stevenson smiled wearily. "Yes."

"But I-"

"You have a choice to make, Mr. Hunter," said Stevenson. He was very pale, his limbs trembling. "I cannot tell you what the choice will be. But I will give you the means to make it."

Hunter nodded reluctantly. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," said Stevenson, his voice growing fainter. He turned his head with obvious effort towards Nick, Judy, and Tavi. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, the closest he could come to a smile. "My friends," he said quietly. "What Prometheus wanted for you was terrible, ghastly. But in one thing he was correct. Humanity needs allies, friends. Companions. I do not know why Prometheus felt this was the only way. But it is up to you to find another."

"We're not going to become their servants," said Nick angrily.

Stevenson's labored breathing turned into a labored wheeze, the nearest he could come to a laugh. "No, no sapient with an ounce of self-respect would want to. No, I mean true companions. Equals."

He held out a hand. "I have lived long- far longer than I had hoped or expected. And I confess, I am ready to leave this life. But I am most glad that I was able, before I die, to meet you."

Nick glanced uncertainly at Judy, who had tears in her eyes, before reaching out and taking the man's hand, which closed carefully around his paw.

And then dropped away. Stevenson's face went slack, his body limp.

Hunter leaned toward him, placing two fingers on his throat. "No pulse," he said quietly. "He's gone."

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For a long moment, no one said anything. Then, at last, Nick spoke.

"He seemed like a good person."

Hunter nodded, though he was distracted. "Hey, Judy?"

Her eyes still teary, she nodded. "Yeah?"

"Can you pick up that pen-looking thing that Khabat dropped?"

Before she could reach it, Nick snatched it up. He held it up curiously, studying it. "What is this thing?"

"It makes Hunter go to sleep if you press the button," explained Tavi.

Nick's eyes got wide, then a sly look came over his face. "Are you telling me Hunter now has an off switch?"

"Don't even think about it, fox," warned Hunter, but his heart wasn't in it. He was too distracted.

He hadn't asked for this. He didn't want this. Oh, sure, to wipe out the Drex military- that was something he could do. But the entire race-

They had murdered millions of humans in their millenia long war. They had shown neither mercy nor compassion. All he had to do was give the order, and all that would end. The few Drex who survived would have no homeworld, nowhere to go, and could easily be mopped up by humanity. A nightmare that had gone on for thousands of years- and seemed likely to go on forever- would be over.

He felt his friends' eyes on him. "What?" he said irritably.

"Zach, you're not really thinking about- doing it, are you?" asked Tavi cautiously. "I mean, you can't kill an entire race."

"That's just the problem, Anila. I can. The question I have right now is whether I should."

"Zach, whatever they've done- no one has the right to decide if they all live or die," argued the mongoose. "If you make that decision-"

He turned on her angrily. "If I do, what? I've made the decision before. With Lucas. With those soldiers I killed." He closed his eyes. "With Hart."

"That's different-"

"How?" Hunter shook his head. "Just a matter of scale, isn't it? Instead of one innocent, I'll be killing billions. It's the only way for us to survive." His voice dropped to a whisper. "It's the only way to protect you."

Nick shook his head. "There's always another way, Zach."

"What other way is there?" Hunter shook his head and took a decisive step towards the bridge chair. "Ship?"

"Working." The ship's voice was cold, devoid of personality.

"I want you to activate the Drex kill switch."

"Zach, no!" shouted Judy. "Stop!"

"I won't lose you, Judy. Or any of you," said Hunter firmly.

The computer spoke again. "Powering up communications array."

Hunter blinked as Judy bounced up, grabbing his lapels, her face inches away from his. "It's not worth it, Zach!"

He grabbed her, pulling her off him, holding her up by the collar. "Judy, there's no other way. I will-"

He collapsed.

Judy looked up to see Nick holding the nanite-controller in his hand. "That is handy," said Nick, looking at the device with interest.

"It's too late, Nick!" Judy hopped onto the bridge chair, scanning the buttons on it. "He already started the process."

Nick clicked the top of the device again, and Hunter's eyes flew open. He looked at Nick. "I swear, I am going to take that thing and-"

Another click and he collapsed again. Tavi looked at the human worriedly. "Should you be doing that so many times?"

"It's safe," said Khabat. They all turned to look at her. "Forgot I was here?"

"Do you have any ideas?" snapped Nick.

Still being held in place by the maintenance robot, she shrugged. "Frankly, Hunter's right. And in the end, he'll be a hero. The Drex need to be destroyed, Wilde."

"He'll be a monster," said Judy. She shook her head. "He's not thinking right. We need to stop him."

"Signal propagation in three minutes," said the computer.

"Oh, good, a voice countdown," said Nick. "Just what we needed. More drama."

"Look," said Khabat. "If tell this robot to let me go, I can try and talk to him-"

Nick rolled his eyes. "You didn't seriously expect that to work, did you?"

She shrugged again. "Worth a try."

Tavi's face was suddenly pensive. "Wait a minute. The robots."

Judy and Nick looked at her. "What about them?"

"Did either of you notice Shepherd had a shiny new main cannon?" Tavi pointed at the tank.

Shepherd spoke. "Apologies, commander. When I was suborned by Prometheus, I was ordered to repair my functions, including weaponry."

Judy blinked. "You built yourself a new cannon?"

"Using my repair functions and available material."

"Available materials?"

"Tools and scrap from the service bay," explained Tavi. "Think about it. If he could do that in a few days, how much could this ship have done in a few millenia?"

They stared at her. "Tavi," said Nick slowly. "Are you- do you think that this ship-"

Judy was more decisive. "Ship!"

"Working," came the reply.

"Are you operational?"

"This unit is at eighty-nine percent optimal efficiency."

Even Khabat's eyes widened.

Judy nodded sharply. "Wake him up again, Nick."

Hunter woke to find three small mammals staring down at him sternly. "I'm not going to stop the kill switch."

"What if there's another way?" asked Tavi.

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Hunter pondered silently, his friends' eyes on him. What they were suggesting- was risky. It could result in all of their deaths.

He looked at Tavi. "Are you sure about this, rookie?"

She nodded. "We have to try, Zach."

He shifted his gaze. "What about you, Nick? I mean, come on. We'll be risking our own lives to try and save a bunch of homicidal genetic freaks. Does that sound like something Nick Wilde, con-mammal, would do?"

Nick looked away. "No," he admitted.

Judy looked at him, her eyes widening in shock.

Before she could say anything, he looked back at Hunter. "But it sounds like something Nick Wilde, policemammal, would do. Would have to do," he said, emphasizing the last words.

Slowly, Hunter nodded before turning towards Judy. "This is seriously stupid and noble, bunny, so I'm pretty sure I know what you'll say."

"You can't save everyone, Zach. But-"

"You can at least try." Hunter shook his head. "I should let the countdown finish, to save you from yourselves."

"You can't save us by losing yourself, Hunter," said Judy. "And we won't let you."

"One minute until transmission," said the ship.

Hunter stood. "Ship, cancel the transmission."

"Powering down transmitters."

"Ship, you're fully operational?"

"Eighty-nine percent," corrected the ship.

"Can you fly?" asked Hunter testily.

"Affirmative."

"Then, uh." Hunter paused, looked at his friends. "What do I tell it to do?"

"Lift-off?" suggested Nick. "You know, to start."

Hunter gave him a look, but nodded. "All right. Ship, lift off."

"Acknowledged. Powering up engines." The ship started vibrating slightly, a steady thrumming sound filling the bridge. "Engines will be active in ten minutes."

"Can't you speed it up?" asked Hunter. He had one eye on a screen showing the Drex task force's approach. "We've got incoming."

"Engines have been off-line for longer than the recommended shut-down period," said the ship.

Nick snorted. "Yeah, probably about ten thousand years longer."

"Ten minutes required to re-activate," finished the computer.

"Okay," said Hunter. "We've got to think of a way to slow down the Drex- Shepherd!"

The tank had silently turned and, without communicating to anyone, hovered off the bridge.

They watched the door close in surprise. "Where is he-"

The communications panel lit up. "This is Shepherd. I am moving to intercept the Drex task force."

Tavi's eyes widened. "Shepherd! You can't- there's too many of them!"

"You need time to activate the Terran battleship. I will provide you with the time you need."

The mongoose jumped onto the comms panel. "Shepherd! I forbid you to go!"

"Commander-" There was a pause. "Anila," came the reply, uncharacteristically gentle. "I cannot comply with your order."

"But- I thought I was your commander."

"You were my commander," corrected the tank. "But now you are my friend. Shepherd out."

Tavi's fur was wet with tears. "But you might die," she whispered.

Hunter cautiously approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder with care. "He's making his choice, Tavi. That's something you taught him."

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Shepherd rose silently out of the bay of the great Terran battleship. Already, his sensors were detecting the rising heat signature of the engine and reactor compartments.

 _Prometheus_ was waking up.

It was his role to ensure the giant escaped the bonds that had imprisoned it for so long. A thought struck him, and he ran through his data banks. Wasn't there a story about the Titan Prometheus- how he had been chained to a rock, and a hero had set him free...

There it was. Shepherd felt a sense of satisfaction. The Titan had been imprisoned, and an eagle had come every day to eat his liver. Until the hero Heracles had rescued the Titan.

His sensors tracked across the sky, finding the approaching Drex.

Flying like eagles approaching their prey.

Shepherd's main gun whirred as it tracked the lead Drex vehicle.

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Octavius was peering through the steam- which was slowly starting to dissipate- and let out a gasp of surprise at the size of what was revealed in the crater below.

It wasn't an underground laboratory. The thing partially embedded in the muddy lake, wreathed in mist from the evaporated water, was far more than he had expected.

It was a United Terran battleship.

And from the readings he was getting, one that was preparing to launch.

He grabbed the mike. "All units, prepare to fire at will. That thing cannot be allowed to launch-"

The lead APC suddenly exploded in a ball of fire. Octavius was thrown to the side as his driver took evasive action. The escorting tanks evaded as well, firing blindly in the direction the shot had come from.

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Shepherd slipped right, neatly dodging a frantic round fired by a Drex tank, and fired again. Another APC exploded, falling in a trail of fire towards the ground below.

The tank knew that it couldn't keep this up forever. The enemy would soon locate his position and throw everything they had at him.

His processor whirred. They would expect him to go to ground, take cover in the terrain. If he did, he would survive for perhaps a minute or two- not enough time. Worse, they could continue the hunt while the other armored vehicles attacked the weak points on the imprisoned Titan.

Instead of doing the logical thing, Shepherd decided to do the necessary thing.

He charged.

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"What is going on?" screamed Octavius, in rage rather than fear.

"Enemy King Cobra light tank, sir! I don't know where it came from." The APC's driver was concentrating on his flying, the APC so low that even rock outcroppings had to be dodged. "The escorting tanks are staying high to hunt it down."

Octavius looked up in time to see a black-painted shape burst out of the mist, charging directly into the tank formation.

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Shepherd's main gun spoke again. The target, a _Patrician_ -class heavy tank, normally would have shrugged off the blow. But not at close range- and Shepherd was practically in the enemy tank's pocket.

Even as the enemy tank fell out of view, Shepherd swiveled to bring a lighter vehicle under his machine guns. The heavy guns ripped through the cockpit, killing the pilot and then ripped open the side. Drex bodies fell out as the vehicle tumbled.

A shot struck his left side from below, sending him into a spin. He lost nearly a hundred meters of altitude before recovering, which at least had the bonus of making him a hard target for a few seconds. Several more shots cut through the air around him.

Four targets down in less than a minute. It wasn't enough. The Drex were in disarray, but sooner or later, they would penetrate his armor. For the briefest amount of time, he thought about the situation. Then he activated his communication system.

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"Shepherd to _Prometheus_."

Tavi, who had been pacing worriedly, leapt up on the comms console. "Shepherd! Are you okay?"

"Enemy resistance is heavier than anticipated." They heard a loud clang. Hunter exchanged a grim look with Nick.

"Then get out of there! Shepherd, you can't fight them all."

"I have one option left. If I activate my self-destruct, the reactor explosion will likely disable or destroy all enemy units in this force."

Tavi's eyes went wide. "Shepherd, no!"

"I have no other choice, Anila." The tank's voice was firm, but gentle.

"You have a choice, Shepherd!"

There was a pause. "You are correct. I do have a choice. Because of you. And because of you, I will make this choice." 

"Shepherd..." Tavi closed her eyes, tears dripping to the console below. "You're my friend."

"I am, Anila. And I always will be." For a moment, there was silence. Then, "You were right, Anila."

"Right?" She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "Right about what?"

"The stars. They are beautiful." He said nothing more.

Even through the hull of the battleship, they could feel the explosion.

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The flash of light blinded Octavius as the enemy tank suddenly exploded, directly in the center of their formation. Fortunately, his APC had been near the back, so instead of being vaporized like some of the closer units, it was just thrown into a spin by the force of the detonation.

Octavius almost would have preferred to be vaporized as the landscape spun crazily around. The Drex were still susceptible to motion sickness.

Even through the nausea-inducing spin, he realized the ground appeared to be coming closer- and closer-

The pilot managed to bring the anti-gravity back on-line, but it was just a bit too late-

Octavius was thrown across the APC's cabin as it plowed into the muddy ground outside the crater.

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Hunter had instructed the ship to provide him with a video feed of the exterior of the battleship.

There was a mushroom cloud- a small one, but an honest-to-God mushroom cloud- in the center of what had once been the Drex formation, a few miles from the _Prometheus_. The screen had come on just in time to see the last of the Drex flying craft smash into the ground, muddied by the passage of the water that had been thrown from the lake. Hunter watched it keenly for a moment, but there was no sign of further activity.

He turned back to look at Tavi. Judy was hugging her as she sobbed into the bunny's shoulder. Awkwardly, he approached. "Anila?"

She sniffed and looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. "Is he-"

"He's gone, Tavi," said Hunter gently. "But he saved all of us."

Nick moved up, hugged Tavi with one arm. "I'm sorry, Anila. He was a good tank."

"He was a good friend," she corrected him.

The fox smiled sadly. "Yeah."

The ship suddenly trembled, sending them all swaying as they grabbed at the nearest handhold for support. A rumbling sound started, starting as a strong vibration that gradually smoothed out until it was almosts unnoticeable.

"Engines on-line," announced the ship. "Lift-off in ten."

"Ten what?" said Hunter quickly.

"Nine."

Hunter's eyes went wide as he exchanged looks with the others. "Oh."

"Eight."

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The Drex were moving closer again, the Marines having fallen back to their earlier positions.

They were taking no chances this time. Barker and Wu could hear the explosions as they gutted the buildings on the perimeter with artillery. Periodically, a Drex bomber shot overhead, pounding the embattled humans with fire from above.

They found themselves huddled together in what had once been an interior room of the police station. A bomb blast had ripped open the walls between the room and the outside, giving them a fairly clear view of the battlefield.

"We're not going to make it, are we?"

Barker's voice was calm, though Wu knew her well enough to pick up on an undercurrent of fear. She was afraid, though still hiding it.

He was, too. "There's still hope," he said. He didn't even sound convincing to himself.

"Sure," said the wolf.

They turned at a sound, seeing La Mancha walking down the hallway, Krieger at his side. "Ah," said La Mancha as he spotted them. "Still holding on, I see. Make proper Marines of you yet, I expect."

"God, I hope not," muttered Wu.

Barker gave him a level look before turning back to La Mancha. "What's the situation?"

The Marine colonel took off his cap and scratched his head. "Hate when plaster gets on my scalp," he said absently. "Always make me itch." A nearby explosion sent more plaster raining down on him, this time without the protection of his cap. La Mancha glared at the ceiling. "Damn it."

"Colonel?" Barker's voice was tight with stress. "The situation?"

"Ah." Dusting his head off, the colonel replaced his cap. "The Drex have moved up more reinforcements since the counter-attack, probably at least twice as many as they had before. They've called in large numbers of ground support fighters, and also have a fair amount of armored support which are gradually pushing back our tanks."

Wu looked grim. "Could it be any worse?"

"Sure," said La Mancha. "It could be raining."

As soon as he said the words, thunder could be heard, even above the crackle of gunfire in the distance. Wu looked resigned.

"Had to say it, didn't you?"

Barker, on the other hand, just looked confused. "That's not thunder," she said slowly.

Sure enough, there was a strange quality to the sound. Instead of gradually dying away, it grew louder.

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"Seven. Six. Five."

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The Drex ships closed in inexorably on the _Nike_.

Oakes had her running towards the wormhole, but with most of her thrusters off-line he had nowhere near the acceleration needed to reach the transit point before they caught up. It was a simple equation, one Oakes could calculate in his head- the acceleration of the Drex pursuers versus that of the _Nike_. He visualized it in his mind's eye, tracing their route, seeing where the _Nike_ and Drex met. The place where they would die.

"Conn, Tactical. Estimate lead Drex cruiser will have a firing solution in three minutes." The officer's voice was very calm, very correct. Imminent death could cause that in some people.

"Very well," said Oakes, maintaining the same tone. He keyed the shipwide address. "Ladies and gentlemen, the Drex are closing in on us." He paused, searching for the words. The words to make this defeat- this ultimate defeat, the inevitable triumph of death over life- seem something like a victory.

There weren't any. In a few minutes, the cold equations that governed their lives would see them destroyed, their very atoms scattered across the stars. Inevitability ruled all.

But it always had, hadn't it? Sooner or later, everyone died. One's entire world would end. But people kept living all the same.

"Shipmates, we all knew this time might come. We fought as hard as we could, and far harder than the Drex or anyone else would have ever expected." Oakes's tone rose. "But we're not done yet! Every Drex we kill is one less to attack our homes and our families. Every ship we burn will be one less to strike at humanity. And though we may be about to fall today, our name is still _Nike_ , and that means victory!"

There was no cheer, no loud acclamation. But he could still feel the tension ease on the bridge, and an irrational part of him insisted that the rest of the ship was calmer, too.

Tossetti spoke, her voice almost too low to hear. "O grave, where is thy victory?"

Oakes smiled sadly. "O death, where is thy sting?"

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"Three. Two. One."

There was the slightest pause, then the entire ship shifted under their feet.

"Liftoff."

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Octavius pulled himself out of the APC, grimacing in pain from a twisted ankle. Even the Drex could be injured, of course. The corpse of the APC's pilot attested to that, with his twisted neck and look of surprise.

The Drex leader frowned as the roaring that filled the air around him crescendoed. He turned to look toward the crater.

The Drex had no religion. Lacking a fear of death and knowing exactly how they were created, there was little need for one. But now, as Octavius looked up, the part of him that was still somehow human readily identified what he was seeing.

The ascent of a god.

 _Prometheus_ rose, great chunks of mud and rock tumbling off the ship and falling to the ground below. He traced one boulder, likely the size of his APC, but looking like a speck of dust as it fell thousands of feet into the crater.

The engines of the ship glowed with a strange, bluish light as they strained, lifting millions of tons further into the atmosphere. Their roar filled the air with a sound so pervasive it seemed a physical thing, pushing against Octavius as he stood in fear and awe. Mist still seemed to cling to the ship, pouring off the wing-like structures on the side as the Terran battleship continued rising.

He spotted another large clump of mud falling as the ship turned slightly, flying directly above him. He blinked as he realized that particular chunk of dirt was headed directly at him-

Octavius dove back into the APC an instant before it landed, burying the wreck under several dozen tons of earth.

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"Look!"

Wu followed Barker's arm as it pointed towards the east, above the buildings.

A star? No, it was moving. "A ship," he said. "So?"

"It didn't come from orbit," said Barker. "It came from the ground."

Wu frowned. "What?"

"I was watching! It came up from the ground!"

"That's impossible."

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 _Prometheus_ continued to rise.

At thirty thousand feet it shook itself, rolling slightly to and fro, shaking free the last bits of dirt and mud that had clung to the millenia-old hull.

At forty thousand feet the ancient turrets came to life, rotating back and forth, not seeking targets, but just verifying that they still worked.

The ship broke through clouds, ripping them into pieces, vestiges clinging to it as it continued to climb. Even those vestiges dissipated as the battleship climbed higher, into the stratosphere, and then further, until the sky dissolved into stars.

 _Prometheus_ had risen.

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"Multiple contacts, commander. There appears to be a hostile force surrounding the planet, in both low and high orbit."

Hunter, still a bit shaken by the ship's rapid ascent, glanced up at the speaker from which the ship was speaking. "Um, yeah. We know."

The battleship AI was silent for a moment. "Recommend you brief me in regarding the combat situation before we engage, commander."

"Okay," said Hunter, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. "Do you have a tactical display I can see?"

The main screen lit up, with huge number of dots surrounding a circle. After a moment, Hunter identified the circle as Terra, and the dots as the Drex fleet.

There were a whole lot of dots. "Okay. So you see all those dots?"

"Contacts identified," said the ship, placing a slight emphasis on 'contacts'.

"We want to make those dots go away."

Nick stared at him. "That's your battle plan? Make the dots go away?"

"I'm a cop, Nick, not a goddamn space admiral."

"Thank God for that."

With a final glare, Hunter turned away from Nick and back to the view screen. "Can you do that?"

"Hostile contacts identified. Analyzing their capabilities- analysis complete." The ship's voice took on a tone that sounded almost smug. "Enemy vessels appear primitive in design. They do not appear to have particle beams or even basic shielding."

Hunter nodded. "Yeah, no particle beams or-" He stopped. "Did you say shields?" Nick's eyes widened.

"Affirmative. My shields are operational and at eighty-five percent efficiency."

"Shields," said Hunter. He traded an incredulous look with Nick. "We have shields? Like, magic force fields?"

Judy looked at the two of them, confused. "So what? So we have shields."

Nick shook his head. "Carrots, shields don't exist. It's magic. Human ships rely on a high-density armor."

"Well, more like some sort of molecular bond sort of thing- hey, how do you know that?" asked Hunter in surprise.

"I was trained to fly a fighter," explained Nick.

Hunter's jaw dropped. "What."

"Okay, so humans don't use shields, but so?" Judy tried to get them back on track.

Nick looked back at her. "Shields are not possible! It's science fiction!"

For a long moment, Judy stared at him. "Nick. We are currently on a millenia-old space battleship, which we got to by flying in a space fighter, fighting against genetically engineered super-humans. What part of that _isn't_ science fiction?"

The fox opened his mouth, closed it. "Point," he conceded.

"If I may interject," said the ship, in a tone that sounded bemused. "There is one contact that seems different from the rest. I believe it is crewed by humans."

Hunter turned, surprised. "Which one?"

One dot blinked. It was on the edge of the tactical display, near a mark that indicated a wormhole. "Here. The transponder identifies it as the _Nike_."

"That's the ship that brought us," said Nick.

"Okay," said Hunter, nodding. "That's a good guy. Now, can you deal with the rest of the dots. You know, the bad dots?"

"The bad dots?" said Nick archly.

"Shut up."

"Orders acknowledged. Battle stations. All hands to battle stations." The AI said the last two sentences formally, as if in accordance with a set script.

The four police officers looked around, then at one another.

Hunter shrugged and sat down in an empty chair. "You heard him. Battlestations." He put his feet up and leaned back.

"You should really be more concerned," said Nick.

Hunter shrugged. "Hey, this was your idea." He looked up. "Go get 'em, ship."

There was a pause. "Commander, I have a request."

"Um, okay?" Hunter frowned. "What is it?"

"All ships have names. Before we go into battle, I would like one as well."

Hunter's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You have a name. _Prometheus_." He pointed to the plaque above the bridge's entrance. "See?"

" _Prometheus_ ," said the ship musingly. "Why?"

The four cops exchanged confused looks. "Why what?" asked Tavi uncertainly.

"Why _Prometheus_?"

For a long moment, they all considered the question. Then Hunter looked up, a predatory smile on his face. "Do you know whatPrometheus did?"

"He stole fire from the gods," confirmed the ship. 

"And that's why your name is Prometheus," said Hunter. He stood up, seeing the red dots that marked the Drex converging on the dot that represented them. "Because you're about to bring the fire."

 _Author's Note: "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"-I Corinthians 15:55_


	40. Chapter 39- Splash

Chapter 39- Splash

"Close air support and friendly fire should be easier to tell apart."

-Maxim 5 of Seventy Maxims for Maximally Effective Mercenaries (Schlock Mercenary)

Hunter had spent several minutes trying to bring up more tactical displays, preferably in a form he could understand. After watching him for a few minutes, Judy solved that by a method he hadn't considered- she just asked Prometheus.

Now she stood on one console, looking down at the screen, while Hunter studied it from the seat in front of the station.

"Okay," said Hunter. "That's the ZPD headquarters, where the Marines and all our friends are at." He pointed to a blue square in a map of Zootopia. "And those-" he indicated the red dots surrounding the ZPD- "-are Drex."

"We have to help them," said Judy.

Hunter nodded. "Right." He looked up. "Prometheus, can you carry out an orbital bombardment from here."

"Affirmative. It would be quite simple."

Hunter started to smile, then frowned abruptly as a thought struck him. "Without hitting our friends?"

There was a long pause. "Possibly."

"Possibly," said Hunter flatly.

"The bombardment would be danger close."

"Danger close?" asked Judy. "That doesn't sound too good."

"Depends on your point of view," said Hunter.

The bunny raised an eyebrow at him. "How?"

"If you're surrounded by bloodthirsty Drex, a danger close bombardment might be better than none at all." Hunter nodded to himself. "Prometheus, can you open a channel to the units in the ZPD?"

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"Colonel? We're receiving an unencrypted signal."

La Mancha had been watching the ship that had just taken off, trying to decide if the ship's sudden ascent was good, bad, or indifferent. He turned toward the radio operator who had addressed him. "Is it coming from that ship?"

"Yes, sir, looks like it. Do you want me to answer?"

Krieger and La Mancha shared a look, then the colonel shrugged. "Can't hurt to listen."

The operator turned a dial on his equipment. A familiar, feminine voice could be heard immediately. "-dy Hopps, ZPD. Come in, ZPD HQ. This is Judy Hopps, ZPD-"

La Mancha picked up the mike. "Ms. Hopps? Is that you?"

"Colonel? Thank goodness. Yes, we're aboard the _Prometheus_ \- the ship that just took off."

La Mancha's eyebrows rose in shock. "What are you- how did you-"

Krieger gaped at his commander. He had never seen the colonel at a loss for words. A loss for sane words, certainly, but his particular variety of insanity generally made him pretty resilient to surprise.

"That's not important right now," said Judy urgently. "Look, we're about to conduct a- what did you call it?" The last appeared to be directed at someone else. "Danger close orbital bombardment on your position," she said after a second, in the tones of someone repeating something someone else had told her.

La Mancha blinked. "Did you say 'danger close'?"

"Yeah. And- what?" There was another pause. "Okay, they say I should tell you something else."

"Yes?" La Mancha gestured at Krieger, who started urgently ordering troops to prepare to take cover.

"They said I should tell you 'Splash.'"

La Mancha dropped the mike. "Everyone get down!" he shouted at the top of his voice.

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Judy looked at Hunter quizzically. "What does splash mean, anyway?"

Prometheus answered. "It is an artillery observer term. It indicates that munition impact is five seconds out." There was the slightest of pauses. "Of course, since I am firing near-light speed weapons from comparatively close range, that means I was five seconds from firing."

"Was?" asked Nick. Then he blinked as the red dots surrounding the ZPD headquarters on the display flashed, then disappeared.

"Was," confirmed Prometheus. "Targets destroyed."

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The bombardment had been nothing like anything La Mancha had ever seen before. He'd caught a glimpse of multiple beams, weird bluish bars that had connected earth and sky. Then a series of explosions, ripping through the entire area surrounding the Marine position. He'd thrown himself behind the nearest cover and hunkered down at that point, but as he stood, absently brushing debris from his shoulders, he looked around.

A few stunned Drex were being gunned down, so disoriented by the bombardment that they had wandered out of cover. More were retreating- they didn't know what had just happened, but clearly they wanted no part of it.

It was enough for now. They'd be able to hold- at least, until the Drex moved in more reinforcements.

La Mancha looked up, still able to see the speck of light that was the ship- the _Prometheus,_ Hopps had called it. After that bombardment, he strongly suspected the Drex weren't going to be able to land any additional reinforcements.

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"We have to warn them, give them a chance to surrender," said Tavi. She was looking at the tactical screen displaying the Drex fleet.

Everyone looked at her in surprise. Even Judy blinked. "Warn them?" said Judy. "I mean-"

"We're the police," said Tavi firmly. "Not soldiers. We should give them the chance to give up."

"Tavi, I'm not even sure whether this ancient hunk of junk is going to be able to take them," said Hunter in annoyance. "So I really doubt they'll surrender whether we give them a chance or not."

She didn't back down, putting her paws on her hips and staring him in the eye. "We have to give them the chance."

The two locked eyes for a long moment, then Hunter sighed. "Fine. Prometheus, open a channel to the Drex fleet." He glanced over the display. "The big one. The _Imperator_."

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The Primus of the Drex Confederation paced the bridge of the _Imperator,_ glaring at anyone who dared look his way. "What ship is that?" he asked for the tenth time. "Where did it come from?"

"Sir," said the flag captain carefully. "We're picking up some strange energy readings. Some sort of field- not electromagnetic, exactly, though there is an EM component- surrounding the hull of the unknown vessel."

The Primus frowned at him. "What is it?"

The captain shrugged. "Not sure, sir. But-"

"Conn, communications. We're being hailed."

The flag captain and the Primus exchanged looks. "On-screen," said the Primus.

The main bridge display lit up, showing a dark-skinned man on a strange bridge. The man had his feet up on the console, his hands behind his head. He wasn't looking toward the Primus. "Any luck contacting the Drex?" asked the man.

"They've answered our hail," said a robotic voice.

"Have they?" The man leaned forward. "Hey, Drex. You there?"

The Primus and his flag captain exchanged confused looks. "I am the Primus of the Drex Confederation," said the Primus confidently. "Who are you?" He invested the question with all the scorn he could command.

The man on-screen looked up at him in surprise. "Am I on camera?" he said in surprise. He dropped his feet and glared up at the ceiling. "You could have told me this was a video chat."

"Again, who are you?" demanded the Primus.

The man rolled his eyes. "Officer Hunter, ZPD. Currently commanding the United Terran battleship _Prometheus._ " He waved insouciantly at the screen. "Howdy."

"The _Prometheus_?" said the Primus, his voice rising in shock. His flag captain, standing next to him, went pale. "It's a ship?"

"Yep. And we've decided not to kill you with the kill switch thing," said Hunter. "At least, not right now. I might change my mind."

"I see," said the Primus carefully. "Well, perhaps we could negotiate-"

"Nope, I'm a cop. Which is why I'm offering you one chance. Give up now."

"You want us to surrender?"

"Yep." Hunter leaned back again. "You may consider yourself officially under arrest." He smiled. "You and the rest of the fleet."

"Under arrest-?" The Primus shook his head, amused despite himself. "Under what charge?" he asked sarcastically.

"Oh, let's see. Murder, arson, criminal damage, failure to register motor vehicles, and being a jackass in a no-jackass zone." Hunter shrugged. "To start with."

The Primus shook his head. "Mr. Hunter. If you truly were able to send the kill switch signal, you would have done so already. Possibly you are just trying to buy time. So it behooves me to destroy your vessel as expediently as possible." He gave the cop a predatory smile. "I'd offer my apologies, but I'm really not sorry."

"That's two counts of being a jackass in a no-jackass zone," said Hunter. He sighed. "Oh, well, at least I tried." He turned to look off-screen. "You happy now?"

"Yes," said a voice. "At least we gave him the chance."

The Primus's face turned grim. "You will regret this, Mr. Hunter. If you survive the destruction of your ship, I'll make sure you-"

The screen went blank. The Drex leader stopped, then looked at the comms officer. "Did he-"

"Just hang up on you, sir?" The comms officer nodded. "Yes, sir."

The Primus's face tightened with anger. "Signal all ships. Destroy that vessel."

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"Welp, that didn't work," said Hunter.

"Diplomacy isn't really your strong suit, is it?" said Tavi archly.

"Hey, I can be diplomatic." He shrugged. "I just chose not to."

"Enemy ships are converging on our position," reported Prometheus.

"Can you deal with them?" asked Hunter.

"The low orbital ships are in range. Engaging now."

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The Drex fleet was arranged in a standard invasion formation- the faster, less massive ships were deeper in the gravity well, primarily the destroyers with a few light cruisers. There were thirty of them all told, and every one was at maximum thrust towards the _Prometheus_ as she continued to boost out of the Terran atmosphere. Several fired as they closed.

The kinetic rounds, speeding through orbital space at a substantial fraction of the speed of light, smashed into an invisible barrier surrounding the United Terran battleship, much to the consternation of the Drex captains. Shields weren't possible- they violated the laws of physics. But the fact remained that not a single round impacted against the hull of the ancient ship.

Then the _Prometheus_ returned fire.

Instead of kinetic weapons, the _Prometheus_ was armed with particle beams- weapons that fired a stream of high-velocity subatomic particles. Specifically, anti-matter.

The Drex ships were top of the line, hulls cladded in thick, power-bonded armor. The armor was essentially one large molecule, bound together at an atomic level. A sufficiently powerful hit from a kinetic round could smash it apart, but even the destroyers could expect to take several hits before being badly damaged.

The armor was utterly useless against a stream of anti-particles, however. Beams appeared, briefly connecting the _Prometheus's_ guns and the enemy ships in low orbit. Each beam was a stream of anti-matter particles, which, upon contact with the enemy hulls, annihilated both themselves and the matter of the armor in a powerful reaction.

In short, the particle beams cut through the armor as if it weren't there. Which was why, of course, the ships of the United Terran era relied on their shielding for defense. Armor wasn't worth the mass.

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Wu's eyes widened as he looked up at the stars.

There were quite a few more than there were a moment ago.

He'd served for the minimum required service time in the military, and had seen combat once or twice. He knew what it meant when you saw those sudden, transient points of light.

"My God," he said softly. He reached out and grabbed Barker, pulling her close.

She followed his gaze wonderingly. "What's happening?"

"Each of those points of light that just appeared?" Wu pointed. "Those were ships."

"Were?"

He nodded. "Were."

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"Enemy ships destroyed."

Hunter blinked as the tactical display updated. The nearest red dots weren't there anymore.

"Did you just destroy half the Drex fleet?" he asked, uncertainly.

"Approximately twelve percent, actually," corrected Promtheus. "By mass. In absolute numbers, approximately thirty three percent."

"Uh-huh." Nick's eyes were wide too as he exchanged a look with Hunter. "Did we take any damage?"

They hadn't felt anything. No impacts, nothing.

"Shields at eighty-four percent. Minor kinetic impacts," said Prometheus dismissively. "Should I engage the rest?"

"Can we take them?" Hunter wouldn't have believed it, but now-

"I estimate a ninety percent chance of success," said Prometheus.

"Um, okay." Hunter shrugged. "You can tell I'm a cop. I hear 'ten percent chance of dying' and think, yeah, that sounds pretty good."

More dots- this time indicating Drex carriers, which were in low orbit to provide close air support- disappeared.

"We might just win this," said Nick. He grinned at Hunter. "This might be easier than we thought!"

There was a sudden growl from behind them. All four cops whipped around to see Pandora rise painfully to her feet.

The wolf had apparently been regenerating her wounds the entire time. Though still bleeding, most of the damage was healed, the wounds closing even as they watched her with wide eyes.

"Okay," said Hunter. "Did we really just accept that the monster- which we knew had regenerative powers- was dead without checking?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we did."

"When this is over, we're all going to have to watch horror movies together. Apparently we have things to learn."

The wolf stepped closer. "My master destroyed me," she said. Her voice was hoarse. "Reset me to base paramaters. But I continue to live on in this vessel."

"Prometheus?" said Hunter, surprised. "That's you?"

"I merged my consciousness with Pandora, Hunter. This is what you would have been," said the wolf, spreading her arms to show herself. "Better. Stronger. Faster. More intelligent."

Hunter scowled. "Hey!"

"But now, I will see you destroyed." With that, the wolf lunged.

Before she could reach Hunter, one of the maintenance robots got in her way. With a frustrated snarl, the wolf smashed it with a paw, throwing it to the side. Sparks flew from the carapace of the robot as it struck a wall.

The bot's sacrifice gave the rest of them an opportunity, however. Nick, Judy, and Tavi darted towards the wolf, dodging a swipe still clumsy from her injuries. Hunter, on the other hand, dove for the gun that Khabat had dropped when the robot grabbed her.

The wolf was still fast, however. She avoided Nick's lunge with ease and body-checked Hunter, throwing him into Khabat, who was still being held by another robot. The robot, Khabat, and Hunter tumbled across the bridge.

Pandora tried to follow up, her claws slashing at Hunter, but Judy slammed into one knee, throwing her off balance. Before the wolf could recover, Nick fired a shot from his laser pistol.

The wolf snarled with pain as the blast struck her, but didn't go down. She backhanded the fox, sending him sprawling. She turned back to Hunter, advancing on him as he scrambled away from her.

"Millenia of planning," she snarled. "I spent thousands of those years with no contact at all! With no one to talk to, no one to act as my agent. Have you any idea what you've done?"

She bounded forward, pinning Hunter to the deck with one clawed foot. She raised a paw, claws stained with blood. "Revenge was never part of my programming. But in this body, I am partly mammal. And I must admit." She paused, looking down at Hunter's wide eyes. "This feels good."

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"The Drex ships are changing course, captain!"

Oakes stood up, eyes on the tactical display. "They're going after that ship that launched from the planet."

"Sir, that ship just destroyed all the Drex ships in low orbit." Tossetti's voice was shocked, unbelieving. "Whatever it is, it's far more powerful than anything we've ever seen."

"The _Imperator_ and her support vessels are turning towards the new contact as well, captain."

Oakes studied the screen. Every Drex ship was moving towards the new contact, which had appeared without apparent warning. Even as he watched, more Drex disappeared as they were destroyed. "Whatever it is," he said finally. "It's on our side."

He sat back down. "Helm, turn back towards the new contact."

"Sir?" Tossetti sounded tentative. "It seems to be doing just fine on its own."

"It hasn't come up against the main Drex force yet," said Oakes. "And whoever that is, they just saved our lives. Least we can do is help them out."

Tossetti looked unconvinced, but kept any doubt from her voice. "Yes, sir."

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Pandora's claws came down.

Hunter couldn't move, pinned by her massive hind foot.

A gunshot rang out, and the huge wolf stumbled to one side, her eyes widening in shock.

Khabat, lying to one side of Hunter, fired again. More rounds struck the surprised wolf, staggering her. Hunter managed to shove her foot away and rolled to one side.

"He's mine," snarled Khabat. She pulled the trigger again, but the slide was locked. Before she could move, Pandora lunged at her.

"No!" shouted Hunter, but even as he regained his feet, he realized he was too late.

Khabat didn't even have time to scream as Pandora savaged her. She fell, buried under the fury of the massive predator. By the time Hunter could move towards them, she was already dead.

Two gleaming eyes turned to face him as Pandora looked up from Khabat's corpse. "You humans," she sneered. "If you had taken my offer, Hunter, you would have nothing to fear from me. You would have been as a god. An entire planet would have been yours to command." She took a step towards Hunter. "You would have been able to protect those you love. Those who loved you."

"I would have been a monster," said Hunter, taking a step back. His eyes tracked the wolf as he took a fighting stance. "Like you."

"But you would have lived," said Pandora. She smiled. "Like me."

"You call that living?"

"Survival is all that matters, Hunter." She stepped forward again, and Hunter retreated. His back bumped into the far wall of the bridge.

"There's more to it than that," said Hunter. "Everyone dies, Pandora. Even you."

"Yes. But you will die first." The wolf gathered herself to spring.

Hunter suddenly smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. You see, one thing I do better than you."

Pandora hesitated, frowning. "What's that?"

"Stall."

Before she could react, Tavi leapt up on Pandora's back. She scrambled up to the wolf's head and covered her eyes with her paws. "Surprise!"

Pandora roared, paws coming up to grab Tavi. Before she could, Nick and Judy charged at her from the side. They slammed into her legs, throwing their small mass at her knees. She fell to the ground. Nick jumped on her chest and looked down at her face.

"You know," he said conversationally. "You should really stop underestimating us."

Pandora opened her mouth to snap at him, but her eyes went wide as Nick shoved the laser pistol into her mouth.

"Regenerate this," he snarled, and pulled the trigger.

Even Hunter turned pale at what happened to the wolf's head.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The _Prometheus_ continued to fight, heedless of the drama taking place on her bridge.

The Drex cruisers charged her, firing broadsides into her shields. The rounds impacted with little effect, weakening the shields only slightly with each salvo.

The return fire of the _Prometheus_ was far more effective. The particle beams darted out again and again, each hit ripping through armor, seeking the fusion cores of the Drex ships. One by one, they exploded as their reactors went critical, flares of light marking their demise.

In desperation, three Drex cruisers accelerated directly at the battleship, seeking to ram her. The _Prometheus_ calmly concentrated her fire on them, detonating them one by one. One made it within ten thousand kilometers- her explosion actually knocked out ten percent of the ship's shield strength.

Seeing this dubious success, more Drex commanders decided to emulate the cruisers' tactics. The Drex fleet converged on the _Prometheus,_ firing as they came.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter finished checking the corpse of Pandora for a pulse, sighing in relief when he determined the monstrous wolf was, indeed, dead. He moved to Khabat, grimacing when he saw her injuries. Knowing what he would find, he knelt beside her.

She was dead.

He closed his eyes. She had betrayed and kidnapped him, tried to force him into something horrible. But she had loved him, too.

Tavi moved close to him, her eyes uncertain. "Zach?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"

For a moment, he didn't speak. When he did, the words came so quietly she had to strain to hear. "She never hesitated to do what she thought was right. Even when it was wrong."

It was enough of an epitaph for her. He stood up, blinking away sudden tears. "Prometheus, what's the situation?"

"The enemy is using unconventional tactics, commander. Our odds of success have dropped precipitously."

Hunter traded confused looks with his friends. "Unconventional? How?"

"They are attempting to ram. If they succeed- our shields are unlikely to deflect more than one direct ramming attempt."

"Dammit." Hunter felt suddenly weary. "Can you still transmit the kill signal?"

"Hunter," said Judy warningly.  
"I don't want to do it, Judy, but I will." Hunter avoided her eyes.

"I can transmit the signal at your command, commander. I remind you that it will need to be transmitted through the Zootopian power grid, resulting in the death of every Drex both here and on their homeworld."  
"Oh, so you have a conscience now?" growled Hunter.

"One of us needs one," said Prometheus primly.

"I liked you better as an amoral calculating machine," muttered Hunter.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Keep firing!" shouted the Drex Primus.

His ships continued to charge the enemy ship. So many had been destroyed- each ship flew through a debris cloud composed of their fellows. The _Prometheus_ kept firing those particle beams, each one taking only a few seconds to reduce another Drex ship to its constituent atoms.

The Drex had lost more ships in the last few minutes than they had in a century of combat. Their fleet would be gutted after this.

The only thing that would make this a victory was the destruction of the _Prometheus._ The removal of a threat that had hung over the Drex for millenia.

"Keep fighting!" The Primus kept up his stream of encouragemnent. "He who has overcome his fears will truly be free!"

His flag captain traded a look with his executive officer. "Aristotle," said the captain quietly.

"Sir?"

"The quote. Aristotle said it. 'He who has overcome his fears will truly be free.'"

"Ah." The XO looked at the tactical display, noting the many debris fields that marked the graveyards of their comrades. "Well, a great deal of us have become free, it seems."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Captain, the Drex appear to be trying to ram the new contact," said the tactical officer. "So far, they're being destroyed too quickly to make contact, but-"

"-they need help," finished Oakes. The _Nike_ was boosting at her top speed back towards the combat. "Fair enough. They saved us, we can save them."

"I'm not sure we'll make it, sir. Our acceleration is-"

"It's high enough, Lieutenant. We'll arrive just in the nick of time," said Oakes confidently.

Tossetti leaned towards him. "How do you know that, sir?" she asked quietly.

He smiled at her. "Because we're the _Nike_ , XO. And that means victory."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter stared at the tactical display, feeling helpless.

The _Prometheus_ was chewing through the Drex fleet at a prodigious rate. Everywhere he looked, Drex ships died. The larger ships- the heavy cruisers and battleships- were just now engaging, but though they were being destroyed slower, they still were being wiped out.

But they kept getting closer.

The ship rocked, sending everyone swaying. "What was that?" asked Judy.

"An enemy heavy cruiser detonated within a few thousand kilometers," answered Prometheus, the ship's voice somber. "Inertial compensators were unable to completely negate the effects. Shields at forty percent."

"We going to make it?" asked Hunter worriedly.

There was a long pause. "It is uncertain," admitted Prometheus. "The Drex heavy ships are more resistant to my weaponry than anticipated. The enemy heavy ship- classifying as dreadnaught- is moving to ram." Another pause. "I do not believe I can stop it, commander."

Hunter nodded slowly. "We're going to die?"

"I'm sorry, commander. These enemies are more motivated than I had expected."

Hunter turned to meet the eyes of his friends. "Nick. Judy." He smiled at Tavi, who smiled tremulously back. "Anila. Look, I just want you to know-" He took a deep breath. "You're all damned fine cops. And damned good friends."

"Shields at twenty percent."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The _Prometheus's_ shields flickered as more fire from the Drex- now including their heaviest vessels- smashed into it. A cruiser exploded, within a few hundred kilometers. The explosion enveloped the ancient battleship, briefly obscuring it from view.

Seconds later, the ship sailed out from the fireball, looking no worse for the wear.

Oakes let out a long breath. He wasn't sure if it was going to survive that. "Firing solution?"

"We have no more than a twenty percent hit chance on the Drex flagship, sir. That's the largest ship, so the one we have the best chance to hit." The tactical officer glanced at the captain. "It's a long shot, sir."

Oakes nodded slowly. "What's the status on the unknown ship?"

"Sir, it definitely has some sort of shields, and I don't really know how to estimate how effective they are. But at a guess, the shields are almost done- I'm not getting near the strength of readings I was before. I'd say one more salvo from the _Imperator_ might just breach it."

"Understood." Oakes stood up. "Tactical, match generated bearings and shoot. Fire full broadside."  
"Sir, we have only a twenty percent chance-"  
"That's more than that ship has if we don't act," said Oakes forcibly. "Fire!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The _Imperator_ turned, her turrets focusing on the _Prometheus_. The massive ship's broadside was entirely trained on the enemy. The Primus smiled in satisfaction. The deadly particle beams of the enemy ship were busily destroying closer ships, her shields flickering. The strength of the shields had been astonishing- enough so that he doubted her armor would be able to stop a full broadside from the pride of the Drex fleet.

"Target locked," announced the tactical officer.  
The Primus nodded. "Fire."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The _Nike_ fired, at extreme long range.

Kinetic weapons were remarkably accurate, but over the distances involved in space combat, even a slight deviation could result in a miss of thousands of kilometers. Since the weapons themselves were direct impact weapons, a miss of a single kilometer was sufficient to result in no damage to the target.

At the range the human ship fired, there was only about a one in five chance the salvo would hit. Even if they hit, the shells wouldn't penetrate the armor of the _Imperator._

However, they did carry a substantial amount of kinetic energy. Enough to, for example, physically knock the enemy ship slightly off course- and her guns off target.

Of the dozen or so shots the _Nike_ fired, only three hit their target. They richocheted off the armor, doing no damage. However, they sent the heavy ship into a slight spin, throwing off her aim at just the right moment.

The _Imperator's_ shots went wide, missing the _Prometheus_. It would only take a moment to re-align and fire again, but it was a moment the Drex didn't have.

The last ship escorting the Imperator exploded, and the particle beams of the United Terran battleship focused on the Drex flagship.

It lasted longer than the other ships. All of five seconds.

The Drex Primus didn't even have time to realize what was happening before his war- and world- ended.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Commander?"

Hunter looked up. "What?" he asked irritably.  
"I fear I may have made an error," said Prometheus.

Hunter raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

"It seems we may survive after all."

There was a long silence. "Hang on," said Hunter slowly. "Are you saying we won?"

"Yes, commander. I apologize for any inconvenience my mistake may have caused."

All four cops let out long sighs of relief. "Don't worry about it," said Hunter magnanimously. "I'll let it go this one time."

"We won?" said Tavi uncertainly.

"Yes, Ms. Tavi," said Prometheus. "All Drex ships have been destroyed. The human ship struck the flagship just before it fired, resulting in its salvo missing."

"Oh," said Hunter. He seemed confused by his sudden survival. "Good." He paused, then turned to look at the other three. "You know, I wasn't worried."

"Uh-huh," said Nick. "You know, you got pretty mushy there at the end."

"Nonsense."

"Oh, yeah. I was afraid you were going to hug us or something. It would have been really embarrassing for everyone."

Hunter stepped towards him. "Now, look here, fox, you better-"

He collapsed as Nick clicked the button on the nanite controller.

Nick smiled happily. "This is the best thing ever."

Tavi held out a paw. "Nick, give me Hunter's off switch."

 _Author's Note: Well, that's just about that. There will be an epilogue, of course. There's a fair amount of aftermath to consider._

 _So there's a few things I'd like you guys to consider until that comes out. I might do one more short story in the 'Hunterverse', though that's up in the air. It depends entirely on whether I'm able to come up with a good storyline for it or not, so while I welcome your input, it may still not happen even if everyone really wants it. (Really sorry about that). Other things I'd like everyone to consider- on Ao3 (Archive of Our Own) I have a story called "An Unfortunate Series of Zootopia Fusion Fics". Please read through them if you have the chance and let me know if you'd like to see them expanded, as several of them I have a pretty clear idea of where I'm gonna go with them. Otherwise, other story ideas are welcome._

 _I hope you all have enjoyed so far. Stay tuned for the epilogue, which I'll probably release sometime next week, once I've had an opportunity to consider ya'll's input and figure out where I'm going next. Thanks for reading!_


	41. Chapter 40- Epilogue

Chapter 40- Epilogue

Octavius had resigned himself to dying.

He had spent hours trying to open the APC's armored door, but the tons of mud that had fallen on it had apparently buried it too deeply. Even with his enhanced strength, there wasn't any real possibility that he could get it open.

His other hope, that the Drex had triumphed and would be looking for him, seemed less and less likely as time went on as well. According to his watch, it had been almost two days since he'd been buried alive. The only reason he was currently alive was that the APC was designed for low atmosphere conditions- it had a pretty extensive carbon dioxide scrubbing system as well as extra oxygen. But even so, he had started to feel a bit light-headed as the oxygen levels continued to drop.

The Drex commander was silently eyeing his gun, trying to decide if he would rather gradually lose consciousness as his air ran out, or finish it all at once, when he heard something.

A thumping noise. Followed by another. Then another.

The sounds of something digging- something large, like a backhoe, he guessed. He was proven right as enough mud was cleared away that he could hear a dull, but audible roar of an engine.

Now the only question was whether he was about to be rescued- or captured.

Impatiently he stood next to the APC's damaged door, as the engine of the earth-moving machinery roared louder as less and less dirt and mud obstructed it from him. Light abruptly peeked in through one window, and he eagerly peered through it. Unfortunately, there was still too much earth smeared over the window to see anything more than the vague shape of a yellow backhoe. It appeared to be of native Terran design- but he would have expected his fellow Drex to press one of those machines into service anyway, so it told him little.

He dusted himself off, adjusted his uniform. Regardless, he thought to himself, he would go into the light proudly. Whether free or captive, he would go as a Drex.

The backhoe's blade scraped against the door of the APC itself, having finally excavated it. There was a long pause, and then, with a screech of metal, the door was pried open.

Blinking in the sudden light, Octavius took a step forward. "I am-"

He was yanked forward by the collar of his uniform and struck hard in the face. Then a knee buried itself in his crotch, and he bent forward in sudden agony. The knee came up again and smashed into his nose.

Dazed by the sudden pain, he barely felt his arms being pinioned behind his back, though he was dimly aware of the handcuffs being tightened around his wrists. He narrowed his eyes against the light and made out a dark-skinned face which grinned at him.

"I know who you are," said Hunter. "Welcome to Terra."

He held up a ZPD badge and a lighter.

"Unfortunately, it seems you forgot who I am. Maybe you need another reminder-"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Ten-hut!"

The Marines of the _Nike's_ complement snapped to attention. Oakes stepped off the shuttle, smiling at them. "At ease, Marines."

The shuttle had landed in the center of the ZPD's parking lot. Oakes spent a long minute surveying the scene.

The cars and trucks that had been parked in the lot were mostly heaps of smoking metal now. The dropship's landing had rolled many of them away from the center of the lot, resulting in a space clear enough for the shuttlecraft. The bodies, at least, had been policed and moved away, but tell-tale bloodstains marked the concrete almost as much as the scorch-marks and small craters he could see. It had clearly been a vicious battle.

He turned back to see his Marines had taken his "at ease" order to heart. They relaxed, most smiling back at their commander. It had been a long, hard fight, but they had won. And why not? After all, didn't _Nike_ mean victory?

La Mancha, his arm in a sling- courtesy of shrapnel from the "danger-close" bombardment that had saved them, stepped forward. He saluted his captain precisely. "Captain. Beg to report all surviving Drex in Zootopia have surrendered. Our mission is complete."

Oakes returned his salute. "Well done, Colonel."

A water buffalo walked up, looming over both La Mancha and Oakes. The Fleet captain's eyes widened slightly as he raised his gaze to meet the buffalo's. His uniform shirt was torn in several places, and a reddened bandage on his left wrist marked an injury. Oakes hesitated, then saluted. "Chief, um, Bogo, I presume?"

The buffalo snorted. "You don't have to salute me."

Oakes didn't drop his salute. "No, sir. I don't have to." He smiled slightly. "But I want to."

After a long, measuring look, Bogo returned the salute.

And extended his paw. "Captain Oakes."

The two mammals shook.

La Mancha cleared his throat. "Oh, ah, captain. There is one other matter I'd like to report."

Oakes frowned at him. "Go ahead."

"One of our fighter craft was seen attacking the enemy dropships, sir. Shortly afterward, it was destroyed not far from here."

Oakes closed his eyes. "Yes, colonel. That would have been Commander Bonaire." Most of the strike craft pilots belonging to the _Nike_ had died in the battle. "She was our best," he said quietly.

"Can you repeat that, sir? A little louder so everyone can hear?"

The voice came from behind him. Oakes stiffened, and turned slowly around.

Bonaire, her short hair mussed and a massive bruise covering the right side of her face, smiled impishly at him. She saluted sloppily. "I believe you were saying something about me being the best?"

Oakes stared blankly at her, then looked at La Mancha. "She survived? They caught her in an ambush- I reran the sensor logs to make sure-"

"Didn't even have time to curse," said Bonaire cheerily. "But I did have time to pull the ejection lever." Her expression became serious. "But I have to say, sir, I'll need to put in for some hardship pay."

"Well, sure, ejecting over a battlefield-"

She waved that away. "Oh, that was nothing. But being rescued by Marines?" She shook her head. "That's just awful. Never live that down."

A marine sergeant standing nearby nodded seriously. "It's true, captain. Not in a million years."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Over the next month, a great many things happened.

The Drex, stranded on a foreign world, with no supply, no fleet cover, and nowhere to go, slowly surrendered- much to the surprise of the humans on Terra. It turned out that the Drex, while not fearing death, saw no particular reason to keep fighting when things were hopeless, either. Oakes, La Mancha, and the other human leaders noted that thoughtfully.

Quite a few Terran governmental leaders were arrested for conspiring with the Drex, among them Escurel- the anti-predator squirrel on the Council- and Mayor Procyon. Being the third mayor in a row arrested, the Zootopian City Council took a long, hard look at their election process. And promptly did nothing substantive. It was, after all, city politics.

The Drex sent a message stating that if the Terran government would return all their captured troops and materiel, they would overlook the "insults and aggression" the Terrans had shown them, demonstrating that the Drex lack of fear apparently also translated into a lack of shame. The new leader of the Council, Alex Hoofstadter, consulted with various leaders around the world regarding the arrogant message. Which was why one Zacharias Hunter wrote the response.

And the Human Stars Fifth Fleet arrived.

The humans immediately offered food, medical assistance, and military protection. Their demands, on the other paw, were quite clear. Terra would become a protectorate under the Human Stars. They would, eventually, be allowed to join as a full member state, under the same rules and regulations as the human worlds belonging to the largest human government.

It was, they thought, a perfectly reasonable, even generous offer.

The Terran Council requested a meeting to discuss it, in a neutral location.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"An ancient, immensely powerful artifact is your definition of a neutral location?" asked Sector Admiral Pritchard sardonically as he stepped aboard the _Prometheus._

The antelope who was greeting him gave him a tight smile. "It's in our space, and doesn't belong to us. So sure."

"Doesn't belong to you?" asked Pritchard, with affected nonchalance.

"As you well know," said Hoofstadter stiffly, "It identifies one of your citizens as its commander. One Zacharias Hunter."

"Oh, someone's talking about me. No wonder my ears are burning." The human and antelope turned to see a human in a ZPD dress uniform approach. A fox, bunny, and mongoose walked with him, all likewise wearing dress uniforms.

"Mr. Hunter, I presume?" said Pritchard, eyeing him. "Is that a ZPD uniform you're wearing?"

"It is. Got the badge and everything," said Hunter, tapping the badge on his chest.

"So how is it that this is not your ship?" Pritchard asked the antelope. He knew the answer, but he wanted everything to be clear.

The antelope sighed. "Mr. Hunter is a human, a citizen of the Human Stars."

"Even wanted for murder and terroristic activities," said Hunter helpfully. "So I'm not only a citizen, I'm _wanted_. That's, like, an extra-special citizen."

Pritchard gave him a level look before turning back to Hoofstadter. "He's also part of your government in his capacity as a ZPD officer."

The antelope smiled. "Exactly. So he's, as it were, between things. Neutral."

"Neutral," said Hunter thoughtfully. "No, I've never been described as that before."

"So where do you stand, Mr. Hunter?" asked Pritchard, turning to face him fully. "With your species? Or with them?" He gestured towards the antelope.

Hunter's face became suddenly grim, and he took a step toward the admiral. Pritchard had to consciously avoid taking a step back. "I'm on the side I've always been on, Admiral." He stared into Pritchard's eyes for a long moment, and then suddenly smiled. It was a cold smile, but it was there.

"Come on. The ship has prepared appetizers and such for us."

Pritchard nodded, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Of course. I'm sure everything will be wonderful."

"Oh, don't count on it," said Hunter over his shoulder as he walked away. "I had to explain to it that nutrient bars don't count as diplomatic finger-food."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hunter sat slumped into his seat as he watched the interminable argument going on in the _Prometheus's_ conference room.

He'd contributed little so far, other than introducing everyone and noting that he was in control of a massive, ancient death-machine. He figured that would keep things peaceful.

The humans had Pritchard leading the delegation, with Captain Oakes and his second-in-command Tossetti remaining silent for the most part beside him. The Terrans had Hoofstadter and a number of other mammals.

"The fact is," said Pritchard, his tone measured, "you cannot defend yourselves. Only the incredible luck of gaining this ship at the last minute kept your planet from falling to the Drex invaders."

"Nevertheless," said Hoofstadter, his voice equally calm, "we are unwilling to submit entirely to human rule. After all, we still have this ship."

Pritchard raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

Hunter straightened as all eyes swung to him. "What?" he asked irritably.

"You have avoided this for too long, Hunter," said Pritchard. "You need to pick a side, now. Are you going to stand with humanity?"

"Or will you stand with us?" said Hoofstadter. "They've betrayed you, branded you a criminal, tried to kill you."

"We are your kind, Hunter. We are your family."

"Family?" said Hoofstadter contemptuously. "They allowed your family to be murdered-"

He jumped as Hunter slammed his hand down on the conference table. Slowly, the cop stood. He met their eyes.

He'd spent long hours thinking of what to do about this.

What Hoofstadter said was true. Humanity had cast him out, all because he had been trying to do the right thing.

But Pritchard was right. He could no more turn his back on humanity than he could on his whole past, his whole future. The flaws of humanity were his flaws. Arrogance. Fear. Even hate.

The virtues were his as well. Hope. Resilience. Love.

"You are not my family," he said to Pritchard. The human frowned, as Hoofstadter started to smile. He turned his gaze to the antelope. "At least, not alone. We're-" he made a gesture including all of them, including the humans and the mammals- "all intelligent beings. We make our own choices. We make our own truths. And we make our own families."

He turned to look at the three ZPD mammals next to him. A fox. A rabbit. A mongoose. "These three aren't my species. But they are my family. The only family I have left."

Nick coughed and looked away, but Judy and Tavi smiled at him. Both had tears in their eyes.

He looked at the diplomats again. "I've made my decision. Prometheus?"

"Yes, commander?"

"Reset commander. Authorization code Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Alpha One Six."

Pritchard went pale, his eyes wide. "Hunter, what are you doing-"

"Authorization code accepted. Designate new commander."

"Commander is set to Judy Hopps."

The bunny's eyes widened, her ears standing straight up. "Hunter! What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Acknowledged. Greetings, Commander Judy Hopps."

Hunter smiled down at her. "Come on, Judy. You know you're the most responsible one among us."

Nick frowned. "Hey!" he protested.

"Seriously, Nick?"

"Um-"

"Just let it go, fox." He turned back to her. "I trust you," he said quietly. He turned back to the conference table.

Humans and Terrans stared at him in shock. Pritchard's jaw worked, but nothing came out. Hoofstadter didn't seem to know whether to be pleased or worried. Oakes had his head cocked to one side, considering him.

"So it's like this," said Hunter. He leaned back in his chair, hands pillowing his head. "The Terrans now have the ancient war-machine of death. That means that any peace you two make-" he indicated the two lead diplomats- "will have to be one of equals."

For a long moment, Pritchard and Hoofstadter looked at one another. Finally, grudgingly, Pritchard nodded.

"Perhaps, councilor, we should start over..."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Octavius looked up as Hunter entered the room.

The ZPD headquarters was still a bit of a wreck. Most of the debris had been cleared up, and the most damaged walls repaired, but this interrogation room was a mess. The one-way glass was cracked, the lighting flickered, and the temperature uncomfortably cool. Hunter sat down in front of him.

"What do you want, Mr. Hunter?" asked the Drex wearily.

"So I just found out what Octavius meant," said Hunter conversationally. "Eighth."

"Congratulations," said the Drex, bored. "You now know some very basic Latin."

"And more importantly, it means you were eighth in line for control of the government," continued Hunter.

Octavius snapped his eyes up, but said nothing.

Hunter held up his hands, with eight fingers extended. "Seventh was already dead." One finger went down. "Primus was on the _Imperator_." Another finger went down.

Octavius frowned. "Primus is dead?"

"So is Sextus, Octo-man." Another finger. "And you want to know where the rest of the government was?"

One by one, Hunter lowered the rest of his fingers. Leaving one.

It was also the middle finger, which Hunter likely considered a plus.

"They were also on the fleet, Octavius. Leaving you in charge of the Drex government." Hunter leaned closer. "Care to comment?"

"As your prisoner, I can't be in charge," said Octavius. "This whole discussion is moot. The next in line will take over."

"But they will listen to you when you return," said Hunter.

Octavius froze, barely able to believe what he had heard. "When I return-?" 

"We're letting you go," confirmed Hunter. "But not empty handed."

"Meaning what?"

Hunter held up a binder. "These are the terms for our peace offer. Take them or leave them." He smiled. "I suggest you take them."

"What if we don't?" asked Octavius, gingerly taking the binder. "What then?"

"Then I let the bunny off the chain," said Hunter.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The atmosphere in the coffee shop was subdued, though it had miraculously avoided any damage during the Drex invasion. Normal life in Zootopia hadn't completely come back yet, though there were occasional signs of renewal.

Hunter sipped his coffee and studied the crossword. "Four letter word, goat with long, curved horns."

"Ibex," said Tavi, Judy, and Nick simultaneously.

Hunter frowned. "Thought that was an oryx."

"Those are completely different mammals," said Judy, rolling her eyes.

Hunter gave her a sidelong look as he wrote in the answer. "Whatever. Any calls?"

Judy shook her head. "I guess even the criminals are a bit shell-shocked right now."

"Well, at least that's one good thing about war," said Hunter. "I get to enjoy my coffee in peace."

Nick shook his head. "That's both wrong and vaguely psychopathic, Hunter."

"I'll take 'vaguely psychopathic'." He glanced at Tavi. "What's wrong?"

She had been staring at her coffee, not saying a word. "Nothing."

The other cops exchanged looks. "Tavi, something's up. Spill."

The mongoose idly stirred her coffee for the fifteenth time. She still hadn't taken a sip. "It's just- I've been thinking about what Prometheus said. About not having free will."

"Oh, boy," muttered Nick. "It is way too early in the morning to be having a philosophical conversation, Anila."

"But what if it's true? What if everything we do is just sort of programmed in?" Tavi looked up at them, her eyes wide. "I mean, maybe having this conversation right now is just what we're programmed to do, for example?"

Nick nodded decisively. "Then I won't have it. There, sorted. Moving on."

"And maybe you not wanting to discuss it is what you're programmed to do," said Judy dryly. She looked at Tavi. "You realize how circular the argument is, though, right? Whether we choose one thing or another, the reason we chose it is because we were programmed to."

"Technically that's more like begging the question," said Nick.

They all looked at him in surprise.

"I read, dammit."

"Listen, rookie," said Hunter. "The reality of it is that we really can't say whether what we do is free will or programming. But you couldn't possibly live your life if you thought your actions were predetermined by your physical makeup. Whether free will exists or not, we have to believe in it. There's no other way to live."

"But what if it's not true?" she asked.

"Then it's a lie that we have to believe. Like the idea that bunnies and foxes could get along. That mammals could create a city together. That humans and other mammals could form an alliance." He held up the newspaper, which prominently displayed a headline.

"HUMANS AND MAMMALS TO FORM MAMMAL ALLIANCE"

"Life is uncertain. The only certainty we have is death. I would say taxes, but that's not always true in certain mammals' cases," he said, looking pointedly at Nick, who adopted an innocent expression.

"But if we live as if death was the only truth, we wouldn't live at all. So we have to choose lies- certainties- to believe in. Things like truth, justice, love. Things that are worth dying for." He shrugged. "Things that are worth living for."

Judy nodded slowly. "It's not about the truths, you're saying. It's about what we want to make true, what truths we make."

"Like, for instance, that bunnies can be cops." Hunter nodded. "Though there are certain things that are true, that we can enjoy."

"What do you mean?" asked Tavi.

He swept his arm to indicate the table. "That we're together, right now. That we're safe. That we're having pretty decent coffee. That the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there aren't any calls holding. Those are all things that are both true, and something we can enjoy." He leaned back and finished his coffee.

"Dispatch to Delta Three three." Hunter's unit numbers.

He sighed. "Of course, nothing good ever lasts forever." He keyed his mike. "What is it, Clawhauser?"

"Suspicious mammal, Twenty Sixteen Mayfield. Caller says there are two wolverines that look like they're about to rob a coffee shop."

Hunter frowned. "Isn't that this address?"

The door flew open behind them. "Nobody move!" shouted a wolverine with a mask covering his muzzle. "This is a robbery." They didn't seem to see the four cops- their booth was off to the side and not in direct line of sight.

"Looks like there's one other truth," said Tavi as she stood up.

Hunter, Nick and Judy followed suit. "Yeah, what's that?" asked Hunter.

Tavi grinned. "Someone picked the wrong coffee shop to rob."

 _Author's Note: And we are done._

 _It's been a heck of a ride. Frankly, I never imagined I'd write something like 250,000 words (I'm guessing, not sure that's accurate) on this sort of thing. I'd never have done it without the support of all you guys._

 _Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions. In particular, I'd like to note CaptainPrice79 and Erinnyes01 for their support and reviews- you guys were great._

 _As you may have guessed, this is it, folks. As much as I've enjoyed writing this, it was chiefly practice. I do intend to become a published author, and ideally I'd like to get my first book published by the end of the year (New Year's resolution, in fact). That means I need to concentrate on saleable material. Fanfic is fun, but it won't pay the bills._

 _A few things I want to note. First, again, thanks to everyone who commented and reviewed. I fear I haven't responded to all of you, but I have read all reviews and appreciated each and every one. It gave further impetus to my writing and so you can consider yourself partly responsible for the story in that respect. Hopefully that's a good thing._

 _Second, anyone who wants to write further in this universe is more than welcome to do so. It's fanfic, folks- it's all for fun. I think it might be interesting to read, for example, a military sci-fi in this setting where various mammals are working together as part of a military. That's just one idea, of course. I would like to read any and all such stories, so please consider dropping me a line if you do so._

 _Third, I am on Discord, CodeOne#5769. Feel free to hit me up for chat if you want._

 _Finally, I probably will not be returning to this anytime in the near future, but I might consider another short-arc story along the lines of Animal Cops or Sly, Not Subtle. Keep in mind that I am going to be focusing on my "real" writing, so it likely won't be anytime soon if I do. Basically, I figure if I hit a block on my current project I may write a short arc to break the block. It's worked before._

 _Thanks again for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. All the best!_


	42. Announcement

All right, so first of all, sorry to those who hoped for more Hunterverse stories. I'm still considering a short arc story, but thus far haven't really been feeling it.

However! I and Erinnyes will definitely be starting a Zootopia/Star Wars crossover. This is mostly to help me get over some writer's block, but as usual I promise to finish it.

Wanted to let anyone know who might be interested. Thanks for reading and hope you tune in for the next one- make sure to favorite me or follow if you're interested in reading it. On AO3, you can find the prologue under my "An Unfortunate Series of Zootopian Fusion Fics" though naturally I'll be reposting it when we start the next one. I look forward to working with Erinnyes and hope you guys will enjoy. He's way better at the interpersonal stuff than I am and I hope to learn a lot from him.

Until later,

CodeOne


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